Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design (MADD) in Bordeaux is housed in the Hotel de Lalande, an 18th century mansion built in 1778 by architect Étienne Laclotte for Pierre de Raymond de Lalande, adviser to the Parliament of Bordeaux. This rich aristocrat, linked to colonial economy via plantations in Santo Domingo, embodies the opulence of the nobility of Bordeaux dress. The hotel, marked by a neoclassical "Greek" decor, became an administrative place after the Revolution before sheltering the municipal police and a prison in the 19th century.

In 1924, the town hall of Bordeaux transformed the hotel into a museum of ancient art, refurbished in the Louis XVI style to evoke the art of living of the Bordeaux elite. The woodwork of the living rooms, saved from demolished private hotels (such as those of the Green Lounge or the Yellow Lounge), are resettled there. The museum officially opened in 1955 as the Museum of Decorative Arts, after arrangements led by Xavier Védère. The collections, enriched by bequests such as that of Edward Bonie (Maghreb ceramics) or Raymond Jeanvrot (royal objects), illustrate the local decorative arts of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Since 2013, under the leadership of Constance Rubini, the museum has integrated contemporary design into its programming, becoming the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (MADD). Closed for renovation since 2023, it will reopen in 2026 with a redesigned museography, including the former municipal prison (classified Historic Monument in 2018) as a temporary exhibition space. MADD highlights Bordeaux heritage while exploring current design issues.

The Hotel de Lalande, classified as a Historical Monument, also bears witness to the urban changes in Bordeaux: from aristocratic residence to police barracks and then to museum. Its architecture, with its half-moon courtyard and restored lounges, offers an immersion in Bordeaux des Lumières, a major port of Atlantic commerce. The collections, combining furniture, ceramics and scientific instruments, reflect both local fascist and cultural exchanges linked to French colonial history.

Among the emblematic pieces, the woodwork of the Salon des Singeries (Hôtel de Gascq, 1736) or those of the Salon Jaune (Hôtel Dudevant, 1779-1780) illustrate the excellence of Bordeaux artisans. The Bonie legacy, formed during the Algerian campaigns, adds a transcontinental dimension with Moroccan faiences and kabyles pottery. These collections, complemented by the 18,000 objects of Raymond Jeanvrot (memory of the last Bourbons), make MADD a unique place between local history and international openness.

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