Musee D'Orsay, Paris

Why demolish an old building when you can find a new use for it? That was the reasoning of protesters in 1977 when the old Gare d'Orsay was destined to be scrapped.

This railway station, a splendid Beaux Arts edifice built between 1898 and 1900 on the left bank of the Seine, had served its original purpose in the era up to the Second World War. It was the terminus for trains from Paris serving south-western France.

As time moved on, however, rail travel developed such that by 1939 the station's platforms were too short for long-distance trains and the primary function of the station was over.

The station survived the challenge of the war, when its purpose swiftly mutated into a collection point for parcels being sent to prisoners. After the war, the station was a reception centre for prisoners coming back home. A plaque on the side of the station facing the River Seine commemorates this use.

A large building such as this in a central location in Paris lent itself easily to other functions - as a set for various films, including Kafka's "The Trial" adapted by Orson Welles, and as a base for a theatre company and auction house. Typically for a station, the building was graced with a hotel which persisted until its closure in 1973.

What else could an old station be used for? The main area is illuminated from the sides and above through numerous panes of glass. There is also a magnificent clock in working condition in the main terminal. After popular resistance to its demolition, in 1977 the government decided to convert the station into an art gallery. 20,000 square metres of new floorspace were created on four floors. Finally, in 1986 the museum was opened by President Mitterand and today we have the Musee d'Orsay.

The story of the building that houses the Musee d'Orsay shows that an old architectural dog can be taught new tricks. Yet as the home of French works of art from between 1848 and 1915 - by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir and many others - it is fitting that the station should have been built during the same period as its contents were painted.