Frank Gehry's hotly-anticipated twinkling Luma Arles tower has been captured in new photographs by architectural photographer Atelier Vincent Hecht in a poetic narrative from every perspective of the building.

The new tower, made of 11,000 blocks of stainless steel, is nearing completion within a 16-acre (64,749-square-metre) site in the southern French town of Arles, France. 

Reaching its full 56-metre height, Gehry's tower will be one of the six industrial buildings undergoing rehabilitation for Luma Arles at a site which was formerly occupied by railroad workshops built in the mid-19th Century.

In 2013, Maja Hoffmann, an avid Swiss art collector, art patron, documentary filmmaker, impresario, and entrepreneur, launched Luma Arles to plan, develop, and manage the Parc des Ateliers, an expansive former industrial site located in Arles, France.

The Luma Arles will function as an experimental contemporary art center where artists, researchers, and creators from diverse fields collaborate on multidisciplinary exhibitions and projects. 

Situated adjacent to the city's UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Parc des Ateliers serves as the major programmatic and cultural center for Luma's diverse activities.

Within the campus, the six industrial buildings are renovated by renowned architects, including New York-based Selldorf Architects, and a public park designed by Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets, alongside a mountain-like tower designed by Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry.

Gehry's tower will function as a resource center and will house a wide range of programs including research facilities, workshop and seminar rooms, and artist studios. 

Construction started after the ground-breaking ceremony in April 2014. In anticipation of the landscape work full completion, the Parc des Ateliers schedules its gradual opening in May 2020, until the whole site opening in 2021. 

Maja Hoffmann works closely with artistic consultants, including Tom Eccles, Liam Gillick, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Philippe Parreno and Beatrix Ruf, and the Luma Arles team on a program of exhibitions and cross-disciplinary projects presented every year.

In the new photographs, Vincent Hecht's photographs give an in-depth look at the tower and its materiality, capturing daily shots from the street. 

The Luma Arles tower is designed as the main building of the site and rises above the avenue Victor Hugo and is entirely made of stainless steel, resembling an urban crystallized sculpture within the industrial buildings. 

Gehry's mountain-shaped tower will have 5,000-square-metre of facade, composed of 300 metal panels that are welded together and 11,000 blocks of stainless steel. At tower's base, there will be a large glass atrium that can be open to the general public. 

The overall campus is privately funded by Maja Hoffmann's Luma Foundation and it is expected to cost around $175M in total.

Canadian-born American architect Frank O. Gehry, is one of the most influential architects working today, with far-ranging experience in cultural and educational buildings. 

Frank Gehry recently completed Louis Vuitton's new Seoul store with fluffy glass structure in in Seoul, South Korea and his floating iceberg-like office complex for Warner Bros is currently under construction in Los Angeles. 

Frank Gehry runs his office Gehry Partners, LLP in Los Angeles, California since 1962.

All images © Atelier Vincent Hecht 

> via Luma Foundation