The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2 Place du Palais-Royal, Paris. © Jean Nouvel / ADAGP, Paris, 2025. Image © Martin Argyroglo
Share
Or
https://www.archdaily.com/1035188/fondation-cartier-reopens-in-jean-nouvel-designed-paris-building-with-exhibition-by-formafantasma
On October 25, 2025, the Fondation Cartier Pour l’Art Contemporain will open its new premises to the public with an inaugural exhibition drawn from its own Collection, entitled Exposition Générale. Located in the heart of Paris, the new space occupies a Haussmannian building that once housed the Grands Magasins du Louvre, recently reimagined by Jean Nouvel. Conceived as a dynamic architecture with five mobile platforms, the building was designed to expand the possibilities of a traditional exhibition venue. These mechanisms aim to accommodate all forms of visual expression, including photography, cinema, the performing arts, science, and craft, within a space that resonates with the urban life of Paris and engages with questions of urban planning and ecology. Within these parameters, the inaugural exhibition brings together more than 600 works by over 100 artists in a contemporary scenography designed by Formafantasma.
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2 Place du Palais-Royal, Paris. © Jean Nouvel / ADAGP, Paris, 2025. Image © Martin ArgyrogloJean Nouvel‘s architectural transformation of the Fondation Cartier’s new Paris building introduces a movable structure within a restored Haussmannian shell. Its five adjustable platforms can be set at eleven different heights, allowing for diverse spatial configurations, verticalities, and light modulations across 6,500 square meters of exhibition space. These mobile levels define the building’s interior, enabling several transformations in response to artistic and curatorial needs. Large bay windows on the ground floor open the building to the city, while the arcades along Rue de Rivoli, originally designed by Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine under Napoleon I, anchor it within the district’s architectural heritage. Behind the fully preserved façade, Atelier Jean Nouvel‘s dynamic design places the exhibition space at the core of the institution’s artistic mission. According to Fondation Cartier representatives, the project embodies the culmination of Nouvel’s reflections on museum architecture. In his words, a “place for the unexpected,” conceived as “a haven, a welcoming sanctuary where everyone is invited to discover the art of today.”
Exhibition view. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2025. Image © Marc Domage
The title Exposition Générale echoes the 19th-century displays of objects and clothing once held in the Grands Magasins du Louvre. The building housing Atelier Jean Nouvel’s new architectural “machine” was constructed during Haussmann’s urban transformation, coinciding with the inaugural World Fairs, the first of which took place in Paris in 1855, a landmark moment in modern culture. In that spirit of modernity, the “Expositions Générales” served as spaces of discovery and social encounter, offering a new understanding of material culture at a time revolutionized by industrialization. The inauguration of the Fondation Cartier’s new space follows this same spirit of totality and experimentation, with an exhibition conceived as a public forum for exchange in the heart of the French capital, showcasing an extensive and diverse selection of works from its collection to reflect and nurture contemporary artistic thought.
Related Article Notre Dame Rebuilt: A Journey of Restoration for France’s Iconic Cathedral
Exposition Générale brings together more than 600 works by over 100 artists, mapping forty years of contemporary creation from 1984 to the present. The artists include Claudia Andujar, James Turrell, Sarah Sze, Olga de Amaral, Junya Ishigami, Solange Pessoa, David Lynch, Annette Messager, Cai Guo-Qiang, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Chéri Samba. Built over the years through an international program, the selected works reflect the Foundation’s multidisciplinary nature and the breadth of themes it explores. In synchrony with the mobile building, the scenography designed by Formafantasma “reactivates the very notion of what a museum can be.” Architecture, living worlds, technology, and the sciences are explored through emblematic works and fragments of past exhibitions that have defined the institution’s history. According to the Foundation, the studio draws inspiration from diverse methods of exhibiting and research, reinterpreting the social and experimental dimensions of the historical Expositions Générales that shaped the evolution of museum practices.
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2 Place du Palais-Royal, Paris. © Jean Nouvel / ADAGP, Paris, 2025. Image © Martin Argyroglo
Exhibition view. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2025. Image © Marc Domage
On view until the end of August 2026, the exhibition is organized around four major thematic ensembles. It proposes an alternative cartography of contemporary creation that reimagines the model of the “encyclopedic museum.” Instead, it unfolds as: a fleeting architectural laboratory (Machines d’architecture); a reflection on living worlds and their preservation (Être nature); a space of experimentation with materials and techniques (Making Things); and an exploration of future-oriented narratives combining science, technology, and fiction (Un monde réel). Additional sections expand on these themes, tracing the trajectories and individual or collaborative approaches of leading artists in the Fondation’s collection. Advanced booking is required to visit Exposition Générale and explore the Fondation Cartier’s new spaces free of charge on Saturday, October 25, and Sunday, October 26, 2025. Tickets can be reserved, subject to availability, at fondationcartier.com.
Exhibition view. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2025. Image © Marc Domage
In other renovation news in the French capital, directly across the street from the new Fondation Cartier building, the Louvre Museum is set to undergo a major renovation, including a new entrance and a dedicated Mona Lisa gallery. Five multidisciplinary teams were recently selected to advance to the second phase of the international architecture competition launched in June, including Amanda Levete Architectes (AL_A) with Agence NC, Carole Benaiteau, VDLA, and Atelier SOIL; Architecture Studio led by William Gati, paired with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Atelier Brückner, and LAMAYA; French firm Dubuisson Architecture with SANAA and Dan Pearson Studio; Sou Fujimoto with Ducks Scéno and Vogt; and STUDIOS Architecture with Selldorf Architects, Scénarchie, and BASE. Another landmark, the Centre Pompidou, recently closed for five years for a renovation project entrusted to Moreau Kusunoki, Frida Escobedo Studio, and AIA Life Designers. Earlier this year, the Grand Palais reopened to the public after the most comprehensive renovation in its 120-year history, led by Paris-based Chatillon Architectes, featuring a textile art installation by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto.