Located in the Denon Wing of the Louvre Museum, the Café Mollien has reopened after a month of work and features pink-tinged lights that shoot up 4.5 metres high like plants. The makeover was given by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who added the modern pink acrylic light fixtures, now contrasting with their historical surrounds.
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The three translucent lampshades diffuse the glow of each pill-shaped light, casting a pink-toned shadow against the cafe’s stone walls. This is visible from the exhibition rooms thanks to
the big balls of light that keep the perspective open.
Mathieu Lehanneur describes the huge lamps as, ‘three, large pale-pink eggs; luminous and translucent, floating in space and inhabiting the void that separates us from the ceiling, and act as a signal in the Parisian perspective.’
The space comprises an L-shaped dining room and terrace that offers a view of the Louvre’s Pyramid. Inside, 66 seats are arranged around a brushed-brass lighting structure with branch-like extensions stretching towards the high ceilings.
As well as the plant-like lights, the cafe includes further contemporary touches including matt white chairs, lacquered wooden benches upholstered in fabric and a 10-metre bar by the café’s entrance. Stark white chairs contrast with the pink lighting but a strip of brushed brass around the edge of the tables connects the furniture and lighting elements together. The white of the furniture is also echoed in the marble of a 10-metre-long bar in the cafe’s entrance.
The light, modern palette is offset by the grand Neo-baroque staircase, columns and marble-tiled flooring of the space.
Café Mollien is located in the Denon Wing of the Louvre, and links the Carrousel shopping centre and Tuileries Gardens with the museum and its art collection.
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