The canton of Vaud officially inaugurated its Platform 10 museum center in the arts district near Lausanne train station on Wednesday. Opposite the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (MCBA), the mudac and Photo Elysée have also opened their common doors in a sleek cube.
With this second building erected at Platform 10, after the one occupied since 2019 by the MCBA, the arts district reveals its definitive face, certainly already emblematic of the Vaud capital, with therefore three cantonal museums on the same site. But also restaurants, cafes, artistic and commercial arcades as well as a vast esplanade.
This museum center occupies an area of 25,000 m2, the equivalent of five football pitches. It is characterized by an imposing rectangular concrete monolith (MCBA), which replaced the former CFF locomotive hall, and now also by a large cube, where the Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts (mudac) and Photo Elysée (ex-Musée de l’Elysée) are placed one on top of the other, separated by a glazed and oblique ‘flaw’.
Platform 10 cost 250 million francs, including 84 million for the MCBA and 102 million for the mudac and Photo Elysée. The rest covers the arcades and exterior fittings.
The official opening ceremony brought together the Vaud Council of State on Wednesday afternoon, with in particular the speeches of Cesla Amarelle (in charge of culture) and Pascal Broulis (built heritage), the Municipality of Lausanne, representatives of the three museums, SBB and the Federal Office of Culture (OFC). It should be noted that the director of the OFC, Carine Bachmann, had to give up her trip to Lausanne due to illness.
Three months of celebration
This weekend, the public is invited to discover the three museums free of charge during open houses. He will be able to visit the three inaugural and joint exhibitions ‘Train Zug Treno Tren’, while enjoying a festive program on the esplanade and inside the museums (performances, concerts, circus, installations, various activities). Friday will be reserved for schools in Lausanne and the canton.
The Festival de la Cité will also participate in the inaugural festivities since it will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the arts district with two evenings of shows on July 6 and 7. From July 14 to 16, the Locarno festival will be there with three cinema evenings screened on the ‘Piazza Grande de Plateforme 10’. The main facade of the mudac and Photo Elysée will serve as a giant screen.
A popular festival is also planned for August 1 on the esplanade, with the presence of the President of the Confederation Ignazio Cassis. Officials still promise a ‘surprise program’ for the month of October.
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