The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel
San Giorgio Maggiore Venezia Venezia
May 10 - November 23, 2025
Fondazione Giorgio Cini
In a rare behind-the-scenes reveal, The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel offers an immersive look into the architectural imagination behind the Fondation’s future home—set to open in 2025 in the heart of Paris, at Place du Palais-Royal.
More than a showcase of blueprints, the exhibition is a narrative of transformation. It traces Nouvel’s ongoing dialogue between structure and sensation, between architecture as form and as experience. Centered around a monumental sectional model, the display unfolds through tactile prototypes, light-reactive projections, and unexpected details—such as ceilings that vanish and railings that move with the rhythm of the space
Echoing the spirit of his original 1994 design on Boulevard Raspail, Nouvel reinterprets the Fondation’s identity for a new era—fluid, transparent, and deeply attuned to its urban and cultural context. A delicate glass engraving of the original building and a video essay on his exhibition design practices complete the journey, revealing how architecture can be both shelter and stage, memory and invention.
Here, in Venice, Nouvel’s vision is not simply exhibited—it is performed.