La Piscine Museum in Roubaix Expands with €9M Renovation

La Piscine, the art deco swimming pool turned modern art museum in Roubaix, France, has undergone a €9 million expansion directed by architect Jean-Paul Philippon. The project incorporates the adjacent former cotton mill to provide additional gallery space. Originally opened in 2001, the museum exceeded initial attendance projections of 60,000 visitors per year, drawing 200,000 in its first year. It has since been named the most beautiful museum outside Paris by Journal Des Arts. The permanent collection includes sculptures by Giacometti, Rodin, Claudel, and Picasso, alongside paintings, ceramics, glass, furniture, jewelry, and textiles. New exhibitions feature Hervé di Rosa, Pablo Picasso's "L'Homme au Mouton," and Alberto Giacometti's "Portrait d'un héros: hommage à Rol Tanguy," on view until January 20, 2019. Director Bruno Gaudichon emphasized the museum's social role in a city deeply affected by the decline of the textile industry.