A Belvedere
for the Arts
In Paris, in October 2025, the Fondation Cartier opened its new site at 2 Place du Palais-Royal, in the heart of the capital, right across from the Louvre.
Housed in a Haussmannian building dating from 1855, the interior had been entirely reimagined by architect Jean Nouvel.
NEWS.8/11/2025
The Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain
at 2 Place du Palais-Royal,
by Jean Nouvel
In Paris, in October 2025, the Fondation Cartier opened its new site at 2 Place du Palais-Royal, in the heart of the capital, right across from the Louvre.
Housed in a Haussmannian building dating from 1855, the interior had been entirely reimagined by architect Jean Nouvel. The dynamic architecture consisted of five platforms adjustable to eleven different heights, allowing for numerous combinations of volumes, verticalities, and modulations of light, multiplying the possibilities for programming.
With 8,500 square meters of space accessible to the public, including 6,500 square meters of exhibition space, the architecture acted as a scenographic device serving a wide spectrum of visual arts, photography, film, craft, performance, live shows, and science. More than just scenographic propositions, these spaces explored their social potential as places for exchange and sharing.
In keeping with contemporary issues related to landscape, urbanism, and ecology, the Fondation Cartier was an actor in its neighborhood and city, with its very architecture imbued with the history and context of Paris.
Interior spaces of the Fondation Cartier building. © Jean Nouvel / Adagp, Paris, 2025. Photo © Martin Argyroglo
This architectural project was a manifesto of Jean Nouvel’s contextualist approach, his reflection on exhibition spaces and their place in the city. The large bay windows on the ground floor set an immediate dialogue with Paris, while the arcades, designed along the Rue de Rivoli by architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine under Napoleon I, anchored the building in the district’s architectural harmony.
In line with the Fondation Cartier’s ongoing reflection on exhibition design since its creation, the aim was also to create innovative formats that responded to the challenges and missions of a cultural institution rooted in the 21st century. New types of group exhibitions took advantage of the building’s architectural possibilities to create visual connections and pathways that could not be created elsewhere. Each artistic project offered a renewed experience of the building, placing it at the heart of the curatorial reflection.
The audience policy was reinforced as a result, with an ambitious offer that aligned with the programming. In addition to a redesigned and enriched cultural mediation programme, the Fondation created La Manufacture, a 300-square-meter space for education about art and through art, for all ages and profiles. It placed the intelligence of the hand at the heart of its approach, drawing inspiration from traditions of transmission through gesture as a pedagogical basis for its workshops, educational projects, and creative programme series.
Interior spaces of the Fondation Cartier building. © Jean Nouvel / Adagp, Paris, 2025. Photo © Martin Argyroglo
Two other spaces enriched a contemporary artistic programme open to the polyphony of 21st-century modes of expression: an auditorium where performances, concerts, and shows were presented, alongside a rich program of encounters and debates, enabling creatives to engage in dialogue as an extension or counterpoint to the exhibitions; and a new bookstore which, alongside titles on multidisciplinary themes, prominently featured the Fondation Cartier’s own publications and works produced in close collaboration with the artists.
To mark the inauguration of this new venue, the Fondation Cartier presented Exposition Générale, a selection of iconic works and fragments of exhibitions that constituted the main thrust of its Collection. Distinguishing itself through the unique principles guiding its development and enrichment year after year, it traced more than 40 years of international contemporary creation.
With no preexisting collection, it was essentially composed of works created and presented as part of the Fondation’s rich programming, ranging from established artists to relatively unknown talents yet to be discovered. This collection had always acted as a driving force for creation, with the Fondation Cartier enabling artists, through its commissions, to carry out projects specifically conceived for it—sometimes at odds with their preferred practices or on the occasion of first monographs.
As part of Exposition Générale, live performances and spoken word events took place alongside the Collection’s works in the exhibition spaces, with projects focusing on fashion, dance, and music.
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Thanks to: Julie Camdessus , Attachée de presse. CLAUDINE COLIN COMMUNICATIONA FINN Partners Company