To achieve this, Nouvel designed a huge atrium of 70,000 square meters with five mobile platforms that can rise up to 36 feet and modified the surface. “You are in a certain sense,” he said. These moving characteristics give curators and artists the freedom to install works of all forms and sizes and to create different ways through exhibitions. “We wanted to play with that,” said the architect. “Not walls, walls and walls.”
Nouvel framed the airy Galeria with almost 13,000 square meters on footpaths (or “passages”, as he calls them) on three floors and offers a view of the art of visitors exhibited. At the time of our tour there was every surface in gray tones – neutral, which could be overwhelmed in the colors that the artists want for their shows. The only exception was the auditorium, which was permanently coconved in a purple color that Cartier calls. “There is a presence that is constant,” says Nouvel, “and one that is created for art.”
Nouvel was the entrance to the foundation on the shorter west side of the building along the Rule Place du Palais-Royal, so that when they arrive, visitors are met by the monsterality of the room. In order to bring in more light, he concentrated on the street department store showcase on Rue de Rivoli. The Bay windows create a fishbowl-like effect: those inside can see pedestrians and traffic zip, the majestic Musée du Louvre in the background, while passers-by use and take a look at what can be seen. The opening show, which runs until August 23, 2026, contains 600 works by more than 100 artists who were previously issued by the foundation during their 41-year existence.
When Nouvel recorded the closed building, he seemed to be satisfied with the end result. “It is an extraordinary space for contemporary art that has a connection to life,” he said. “Like a continuity.”
The new Fondation Cartier appears in ADVERTISEMENT's October edition. Never miss a story when you subscribe to yourself ADVERTISEMENT.