Raising glass to a dream

Fondation Louis Vuitton showcases its Parisian gift for the arts with an exhibition in Beijing, Chen Jie reports.

Driving past the World Trade Center in Beijing, on the west side of the Louis Vuitton store, you will see a huge poster featuring a dramatic structure that looks like a futuristic airship with billowing glass sails or else an iceberg. In fact, this distinctive modern interpretation of the crystal palaces of the past is Fondation Louis Vuitton, the arts center designed by the Canadian architect Frank Gehry for the LVMH Group that opened in Paris last October.

To showcase the museum, which acts as a home for the group's public and private art collections and as a platform for temporary exhibitions and performances by contemporary artists, the foundation has created a traveling version of the inaugural exhibition on Frank Gehry's building, which reflect both the architecture and the stories behind the project, that is being hosted in Beijing through Aug 9.