Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain unveils plans for new Jean Nouvel building
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has plans for a new building in Paris, working with architect Jean Nouvel

Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is planning a landmark new building, it has been unveiled today in Paris. Renowned architect Jean Nouvel will design the new home for the cultural institution, which will be located at Place du Palais-Royal. Set to open by the end of 2025, to eventually replace the Fondation's existing space on Boulevard Raspail, the project involves the transformation and restoration of a historical Haussmannian building from 1855.
Rendering of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s futurespaces, Place du Palais Royal, Paris
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain: a new Jean Nouvel building
'Moving into such an impressive site, in terms of location and history, entails a form of invention. And what is invented is not automatically seen in the steel or stone. The space is marked by a different way of doing: a way of conceiving how artists can have maximum power of expression,' says Jean Nouvel on his practice's new project.
The architect is famously behind the popular, existing home of the Fondation Cartier - an iconic, ethereal structure in glass and steel that feels delicate and transparent. It was inaugurated in 1994.
Building site view of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporains’s future spaces, Place du Palais Royal, Paris. July 2024
The architect continues: 'A site such as this one calls for boldness, courage that artists might not necessarily demonstrate in other institutional spaces. The Fondation Cartier will likely be the institution offering the greatest differentiation of its spaces, the most diverse exhibition forms and viewpoints. Here, it is possible to do what cannot be done elsewhere, by shifting the system of the act of showing.'
The expansive 8500 sq m structure used to be a Grand Hotel, but will now be redesigned with a commitment to foster and celebrate the arts. Extensive gallery spaces will include flexible halls and mobile platforms that will allow artists and curators to adapt the interior for different shows, as needed.
Building site view of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporains’s future spaces, Place du Palais Royal, Paris. July 2024
'From its creation, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has based its activity around three major principles that still hold true today. The first is the central position granted to artists and artistic production, including artists already known to the general public as well as emerging figures. The second is the focus on transversality: the Fondation Cartier is a space dedicated to all forms of creation, from painting to photography, architecture to film, design to fashion, and more.'
'The third is the strict separation between the Fondation Cartier’s activities and the commercial development of Maison Cartier. These were the major principles underlying the launch of the Fondation Cartier on October 20, 1984, in Jouy-en-Josas. We have perpetuated this same philosophy on Boulevard Raspail and will continue to do so on the Place du Palais-Royal, across from the Louvre,' says Alain Dominique Perrin, founding president of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
A Swedish scooter blends Teenage Engineering’s aesthetic with accessible electric mobility
The EPA1 Scooter is the first product from mobility start-up Vässla, an assured and flexible design shaped in conjunction with TE to assist everyday urban mobility
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homes
Canadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
The standout shows of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: Dolce & Gabbana to Paul Smith
Wallpaper* picks the very best of Milan Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026, from a Dolce & Gabbana pyjama party to Paul Smith’s travel-inspired Milan debut
-
Surrealist townhouse Villa Junot lights up Montmartre – and it’s for rent
We go inside Montmartre’s Villa Junot, a former composer’s home reimagined by interior design studio Claves, where surrealism meets art deco splendour
-
A Venice sneak peek into the new Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel
A new home for Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel will open later this year in Paris; in the meantime, the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 offered the perfect platform for a sneak preview of what's to come
-
Stay in a Parisian apartment which artfully balances minimalism and warmth
Tour this pied-a-terre in the 7th arrondissement, designed by Valeriane Lazard
-
Marta Pan and André Wogenscky's legacy is alive through their modernist home in France
Fondation Marta Pan – André Wogenscky: how a creative couple’s sculptural masterpiece in France keeps its authors’ legacy alive
-
The museum of the future: how architects are redefining cultural landmarks
What does the museum of the future look like? As art evolves, so do the spaces that house it – pushing architects to rethink form and function
-
Paris’ architecturally fascinating Villejuif-Gustave Roussy metro station is now open
Villejuif-Gustave Roussy is part of the new Grand Paris Express, a transport network that will raise the architectural profile of the Paris suburbs
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’
A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreat
This overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior