Toulouse Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Overall view, main facade; Vitry, a native of Toulouse, studied architecture and engineering in Paris. In 1830 he succeeded Pascal Virebent as chief architect of Toulouse, a position he held until 1843. Strongly marked by a style from Neoclassicism to Neo-Gothic, the public buildings he created are imbued with a certain austerity and gravitas. The Abattoirs (stockyards and slaughterhouses) are an example of neoclassical style for industrial use in the nineteenth century, based on the model of the new Parisian slaughterhouses. They were closed in 1989, and listed as historic properties in 1990, when it was decided to use them to house a museum of modern and contemporary art. The project architects Antoine Stinco and Rémi Papillault won the international competition, and the museum opened June 2000. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 5/17/2011