The design by RCR Arquitectes, in collaboration with CALQ Architectes, covers an area of 5,000 m², of which 2,500 m² are dedicated to exhibitions. "Large" proposes a hybrid model that combines art exhibition with a focus on promoting contemporary French art. Its programming will encompass everything from emerging artists to prominent figures of the 20th century, positioning it as one of the key spaces linked to Emerige's cultural commitment.
The building enhances the sensory experience of art through a sequence of spaces of varying scales, which compress and expand, and pays particular attention to the entry of natural light, filtered through aluminum louvers. In this way, a proposal centered on the perception and physical encounter with the artworks is completed.
Le Large – Pointe des Arts Art Center – Seguin Island by RCR Arquitectes + CALQ Architects. Photograph by Nicolas Trouillard.
For its opening, the program will be curated by Cecilia Alemani, who presents "Moteur Imaginaire" (Imaginary Engine), a project that draws on the industrial past of Île Seguin, the former site of the Renault factories, and explores the relationship between people and machines, with a particular focus on the automobile. In collaboration with the Fonds Renault pour l’Art et la Culture, it brings together historical works by artists such as Vasarely, Dubuffet, Tinguely, and Doisneau alongside contemporary pieces.
The inaugural exhibition also includes 17 new works specially commissioned from artists such as Théo Mercier, Sara Sadik, Bianca Bondi, Clément Cogitore, Bertrand Lavier, Mohamed El Khatib, Oliver Beer, Bertille Bak, Thu Van Tran, and Giulia Andreani. Organized into five chapters, the exhibition reflects on the industrial utopias of the 20th century and contemporary technological and social transformations, establishing a dialogue between past and present.
Watercolor. Le Large – Pointe des Arts Art Center – Seguin Island by RCR Arquitectes + CALQ Architects.
The choice of name is not random: "Large" refers both to the importance of the new destination and to the idea of expanding horizons. Conceived for the creation, production, and dissemination of knowledge, the design takes advantage of the site's open nature to create a space accessible to diverse audiences. The center aims to function as a place for dialogue, experimentation, and exchange, open to the city and to new ways of engaging with contemporary art.
Erró. Motor Scape, 1984. Photograph by Georges Poncet. Courtesy of Renault Fund for Art and Culture, ADAGP 2026.
"Large" is part of La Pointe des Arts, a 53,000 m² urban and cultural development that also includes an eight-screen Pathé cinema, a 230-room hotel, offices, shops, and restaurants.
"Ten years ago, Large began with an ambition: breathing new life into the Île Seguin by creating a space where art, architecture and the public could encounter one another freely. Imagined as an open and living space, this new cultural site invites us all to prendre le large [set sail], change our perspectives and share emotions through contemporary art".
Laurent Dumas, chairman of the Emerige Group and Large.
