Musée de la Musique

The Musée de la Musique holds a spiral of thousands of instruments housed within a distinct, deconstructivist building of stainless steel and sharp angles in the Parc de la Villette. It began as a collection for the Paris Conservatory in the late eighteenth century, gathering items confiscated from aristocrats during the French Revolution. Louis Clapisson bought the first batch of these harpsichords and lutes in eighteen sixty-one, keeping them in his own living room before the state finally took over his crowded collection.