The president of France Francois Hollande was on hand yesterday (31 May) for the pre-opening of La Cité du Vin; a new international cultural wine centre for Bordeaux, France.

Designed by Paris studio XTU Architects, the complex is a permanent 13,000sq m (140,000sq ft), €136m (US$151.3m, £104m) visitor experience celebrating the history of winemaking. It opens to the public today (1 June).

The building’s curving form was designed by architects Anouk Legendre and Nicolas Desmazièresto to evoke both wine swirling in a glass and gnarled vines, as well as to create a link between and the centre and the spaces surrounding it through perpetual movement.

A wooden skeleton is covered by two layers of silk-screen printed glass panels, photovoltaic sections and perforated lacquered aluminium panels that create a golden shimmer. Inside, 10 levels separate the structure’s core and a watchtower over the city.

“This building does not resemble any recognisable shape because it is an evocation of the soul of wine located between the river and the city,” said Legendre and Desmazièresto. “Every detail of the architecture evokes wine’s soul and liquid nature. It’s intangible and sensual.”

Cité du vin : merci à francois Hollande d être venu inaugurer pic.twitter.com/boJV0oIC9r

— XTU architects (@XTUarchitects) May 31, 2016