Museum Jean Cocteau in Menton by Rudy Ricciotti

At the beginning of this October, a museum dedicated to Jean Cocteau was opened in the town of Menton on the French-Italian border. The building is located on the coastal promenade near the old Jean Cocteau museum, which was designed by the French artist during his lifetime. The designer of the new museum, funded by American collector and patron Severin Wunderman, is French architect Rudy Ricciotti.
Menton is the first town on the French Riviera. Nestled in the hills, it is home to just under thirty thousand residents. For eight decades, the famous Lemon Festival has been held here, and Jean Cocteau regularly stayed here from 1955. Among the circle of friends of Jean Cocteau were French writer Marcel Proust, painter Pablo Picasso, actor Charlie Chaplin, and singer Edith Piaf.
Rudy Ricciotti won the design competition for the museum, which in many ways resembles a sculptural form, three years ago in an international contest. The exterior walls of the structure, made of exposed concrete, are cut and resemble 'flames of fire'. The roof resembles an abstract painting, with its jagged lines being most noticeable at night, when the 'flames' blaze fully. The transition from outside to inside is maximally staged. The outer passage works with contrasts of light and shadow, brightness and darkness, black and white. To some extent, it is a modern interpretation of an ancient colonnade with somewhat different columns. The fully glazed second shell reflects the 'concrete flames', creating an illusion of symmetry, thereby referencing the original works of Jean Cocteau. Inside, the museum offers over 2700 m² of exhibition space divided by a system of movable walls. The total costs reached 14 million euros.