History of the building
The mudac, also known as the Maison Gaudard, has a rather unusual history. The building in fact consists of four medieval dwelling houses that have been joined together during the course of the centuries.
In the 17th century, the “lieutenant baillival” (sub-prefect) Gaudard joined the northeastern and western sections of the current building together and added the tower with a pointed roof that is so easily spotted from the surrounding areas. Gaudard also harmonised the appearance of the north front, henceforth twice as wide.
In the 19th century the Maison Gaudard belonged to the Moravian Brethren, who opened a boarding school there. Between 1837 and 1873 the building housed fifty or so pupils and their teachers.
At the end of the 19th century the building was bought back by the State of Vaud and remained in its possession until 1995.
It was the seat of several administrative offices, finishing up as that of the Prefecture.
At that time the City of Lausanne was examining the possibility of giving the Musée des Arts décoratifs, located in the cramped environment of Avenue Villamont, new exhibition premises. A swap duly took place between the City of Lausanne and the Canton of Vaud, which surrendered the Maison Gaudard to the City in return for the Musée Arlaud, located in Place de la Riponne.
From 1995 onwards, therefore, the Maison Gaudard was owned by the City of Lausanne and renovation work on the building was able to start. This work, carried out by the Monot + Monot architectural studio, was completed in 2000 and the museum was inaugurated in June of that year. At the same time the museum changed its name and became the mudac – Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains [Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts].
