On October 25, 2025, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will open its new facilities to the public at 2 Place du Palais-Royal, in the heart of Paris, with an inaugural exhibition drawn from its collection, entitled "Exposition Générale." The project, developed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, is housed in a Haussmann-style building that formerly housed the Louvre Department Store.

The French architect's proposal integrates and opens to the city through the incorporation of large windows. The interior, composed of a succession of five mobile platforms, transcends conventional exhibition models. The building, conceived as a meeting point, presents a dynamic architecture that becomes an extension of the urban landscape and the building's historical legacy, achieving a fusion of past and future.

The "Exposition Générale" will be part of the inauguration of the Fondation Cartier's new headquarters, organized by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, and will be open until the end of August 2026. Through nearly 600 works by more than 100 artists who have participated in its programming from 1984 to the present, the exhibition will showcase both the Fondation Cartier's artistic identity and its legacy.

The Fondation Cartier Collection is a manifestation of its 40-year history, reflecting its openness to the world and its ongoing international contemporary creation. The inaugural presentation will include solo exhibitions and thematic groups that reflect the institution's longstanding artistic commitments.

Building site view of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s future premises, Place du Palais-Royal, Paris, March 2025. Photograph by Martin Argyroglo.

Building site view of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s future premises, Place du Palais-Royal, Paris, March 2025. Photograph by Martin Argyroglo.

The title, "Exposition Générale," is inspired by the exhibitions of objects and clothing held in the 19th century at the Louvre Department Store. These "Exposition Générales," held concurrently with World's Fairs, offered a space for social gatherings, redefining the understanding of material culture.

In this sense, alluding to the spirit of those first "Exposition Générales," the building aims to be seen as a symbol of Parisian modernity. Based on a philosophy of openness, the Fondation Cartier aims to engage in dialogue with its Collection through an inaugural exhibition open to experimentation and exchange in the heart of Paris.

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Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Architect.- Jean Nouvel.

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Opening.- October 25, 2025.

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Place du Palais-Royal, París, Francia.

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Jean Nouvel, (born in Fumel, France, on August 12, 1945) is a French architect. He was born in Fumel, France, and studied architecture and design at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he graduated in 1972. In 1976, Nouvel was a founding member of "Mars 1976", along with other young French architects. He also participated in creating the Syndicat de l'Architecture, an independent organisation aimed at promoting a more critical awareness within the profession.

Nouvel has received prestigious architecture awards throughout his career, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (granted for the design of the Institut du Monde Arabe). In 2001, he received the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for his international career. In 2005, he was awarded the Wolf Prize in the Arts by the Wolf Foundation in Jerusalem, and in 2008, the Pritzker Prize. He was awarded the Grand Gold Medal of the Académie d’Architecture of France and named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. In addition, he has been made an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and has received honorary doctorates from several universities, including the University of Buenos Aires.

Nouvel was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest honour in architecture, in 2008, for his work on more than 200 projects. Among them, in the words of The New York Times, the “exotic brise-soleil” of the Institut du Monde Arabe, the “bullet-shaped” Torre Agbar in Barcelona with its “candy-colored” skin, the “muscular” Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis with its cantilevered bridge, and in Paris, the “challenging, mysterious and eccentrically wild” Musée du Quai Branly (2006) and the Philharmonie de Paris (a “journey into the unknown”, c. 2012).

The Pritzker highlighted numerous important works: in Europe, the Fondation Cartier for Contemporary Art (1994), the Culture and Congress Center in Lucerne (2000), the Nouvel Opéra in Lyon (1993), Expo 2002 in Switzerland and, under construction, the Concert Hall in Copenhagen and the Palace of Justice in Nantes (2000), as well as two tall towers in development in North America, Tour Verre in New York and a residential tower in Los Angeles. His recent cultural projects include the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Philharmonie de Paris, the National Museum of Qatar in Doha, and the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, 2010, in London.

In its announcement, the Pritzker Prize jury stated:

Of the many phrases that might be used to describe the career of architect Jean Nouvel, foremost are those that emphasize his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms to stretch the boundaries of the field. [...] The jury acknowledged the ‘persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation’ as qualities abundant in Nouvel’s work.

Among his principal projects are the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Fondation Cartier and the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, the Culture and Congress Center KKL in Lucerne, the extension of the Reina Sofía Art Center in Madrid, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Geneva Convention Center (2006), the Torre Agbar in Barcelona, the Dentsu Tower in Tokyo, the main complex of the Pierre and Marie Curie University campus in Paris, and the French Pavilion for Expo Shanghai 2010.

Among his current projects under study or construction are “53W53, Tour de Verre,” which integrates the expansion of the MoMA galleries in New York, the “Le Nouvel” residential towers in Kuala Lumpur, “Anderson 18” and “Ardmore” in Singapore, and “Rosewood” in São Paulo, the “Hekla” and “Duo” office towers in Paris, the cultural complex “The Artists’ Garden” in Qingdao, and the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing. The design for the Louvre Abu Dhabi began in 2006 with Nouvel’s associate architect, Hala Wardé. His recent plans also include projects in Dakar, Rio de Janeiro, and Brussels, as well as urban interventions in historic sites such as the city center of Toledo, Spain.
 

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Published on: April 30, 2025
Cite:
metalocus, AGUSTINA BERTA
""Exposition Générale". Fondation Cartier celebrates the opening of the new headquarters by Jean Nouvel" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/exposition-generale-fondation-cartier-celebrates-opening-new-headquarters-jean-nouvel> ISSN 1139-6415
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