Seek these design goings-on in the south of France sun this summer

The creative season in the south of France commences for 2026. From Aix-en-Provence to Marseille, Saint-Tropez to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, experience the luminosity, delicacy, heritage conversations, sensuality and organic nature of contemporary regional design. Discover French icons of the 20th century, Pierre Paulin and Jean Prouvé. Lose yourself in the dense atmospheres of photographer François Halard and the idealism of Victor Vasarely; then find fresh and emerging inspiration in the annual Design Parade that celebrates a special anniversary this year.

10 design highlights in the south of France this summer

‘Childhood Memories’ at Une Maison à Saint-Tropez

Interior designer Isabelle Castanier invites 20 designers into her childhood home in Saint-Tropez to salute the generations of children who have grown up in the 18th-century Provençal house. A series of playful tableaux tells stories of sandcastles, sweet dreams and sticky fingers through textiles by Sarah Espeute, trumeau mirrors by Sébastien Gafari, cast aluminium treasures by Axel Chay, and many more delights from the likes of India Mahdavi and Linde Freya Tangelder. Each Thursday evening, the exhibition spills out onto the Place des Lices, showcasing collectible design between games of pétanque and glasses of lemonade.

6 June-31 July 2026
Une Maison à Saint-Tropez, 17 Avenue Foch, 83990 Saint-Tropez

Olivia Cognet, ‘Inhabiting the Landscape House’ at Dragon Hill

Vallauris-based sculptor-designer Olivia Cognet inhabits the organic Dragon Hill house designed by French architect Jacques Couëlle in the 1960s with a domestic landscape of works that respond to its cavities, recesses and irregular volumes. Just like Couëlle, Cognet seeks to dissolve the boundary between the body and space: there’s a vast sofa made in collaboration with Lyon upholsterer Degut, and a garden seating space of monolithic furniture that blends function and decoration. Dragon Hill and its sculpture park, found in the hills above Cannes, is open by appointment.

13 May-November 2026
Dragon Hill Residence, Castellaras le Neuf, 06730 Mouans-Sartoux

‘Project for a revolution’ at the Vasarely Foundation

In honour of the 50th anniversary of Op art pioneer Victor Vasarely’s ‘Architecture Center’ in Aix-en-Provence, inaugurated in 1976, Fondation Vasarely charts the building’s genesis and ambitions in an exhibition in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou. Archival materials chart its conceptual origins in the Bauhaus; Vasarely’s urban integrations in Caracas in 1954; and his ‘Polychrome City of Happiness’ thesis, as well as contemporaneous projects of Yona Friedman’s ‘Spatial City’ and André Bloc’s Habitable Sculptures.

12 June-1 November 2026
Fondation Vasarely, Jas de Bouffan, 13090 Aix-en-Provence

François Halard at Gallifet

More than 100 photographs by French photographer François Halard capture his quest for beauty through the materiality of interiors, the depths of memories and fragments of ancient architecture. Titled ‘Ne rien jeter, 33 ans après’, the exhibition traces an archive of studio visits to Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg and Carlo Mollino, pilgrimages to Casa Malaparte and Giverny, and the physicality of image-making from hotel darkrooms to painted layers.

This year, Gallifet’s summer season brings the culinary residency of Lisa Desforges and Bruno Hammerle, who worked together at l’Ami Jean in Paris and now reunite to craft spontaneous hyper-local menus for the courtyard restaurant beneath century-old chestnut trees.

6 March-27 September 2026
Gallifet, 52 rue Cardinale, 13100 Aix-en-Provence

‘Movement Architecture Community’ at Kolektiv Cité Radieuse

This summer, the non-profit gallery inside Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille spotlights the work of Australian photographer Adrian Meško, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia. Specifically, his documentation of (La)Horde, the contemporary dance collective with whom he embedded during the pandemic, documenting their rituals, choreographies and architectural inhabitation. Through the lens of Meško and the corporeal expression of (La)Horde, the exhibition explores the intersection of movement, queer politics and Modernist built environments that can both constrain and emancipate.

10 July-22 August 2026
Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, Third floor, Unité d’Habitation, 280 Boulevard Michelet, 13008 Marseille

Victor Siret and Arnaud Eubelen at La Traverse

First up this summer at La Traverse – a destination for creative happenings in Marseille’s Malmousque neighbourhood – is a solo show by artist Victor Siret, who adopted the French port city as his home in 2022. His embroidered canvases depict Marseille permeated by American motifs, as a desert-like fever dream of flattened buildings, signs and slogans visually informed by films and video games. Later in the summer, Brussels-based designer Arnaud Eubelen, who works ‘in the no man's land between sculpture and design’, reappropriates industrial materials to rewire their value, as part of a boutique-style exhibition for reading, exploring objects and listening to music.

Victor Siret: 14 May-4 July 2026 / Arnaud Eubelen: 11 July-26 September 2026
La Traverse, 16 Traverse Sainte-Hélène, 13007 Marseille

Design Parade

In 2026, the annual festival ‘Design Parade’ celebrates a double anniversary: 20 years of its product design competition and ten years of its interior design counterpart. Under the artistic direction of Julie Liger, this special edition takes over the entire 1920s Villa Noailles for the first time – where exhibitions of the ten finalists of both categories will be judged by two esteemed juries chaired by Sofia Lagerkvidt and Anna Lindgren of Front Design studio (product design) and Laura Gonzalez (interior design). The atmosphere further expands with scenographies by Joachim Jirou Najou; showcases by previous winners Thomas Takada, Simon Dupety and Malo Gagliardini; and ‘20+10: Design Parade Generation(s)’, a retrospective of Design Parade curated by David Giroire.

25 June-30 August 2026
Villa Noailles, 47 Mont de Noailles, 83400 Hyères, France

Pierre Paulin at the Musée Fabre

In Montpellier, the Musée Fabre presents a major retrospective of designer Pierre Paulin (1927-2009). In the context of post-war 20th-century French design, the exhibition reviews key milestones and iconic creations such as the ‘Mushroom’ chair (1960), ‘Ribbon’ chair (1966) and ‘Tongue’ chair (1967), which, once avant-garde, are now considered ‘classics’ of modernity. Working during the ‘Glorious Thirty’, Paulin blended Nordic and American influences, with fluid forms and an awareness of pop culture and aspirational lifestyles. Visitors can explore the ‘Élysée Smoking Room’, presented for the first time outside Paris since its restoration, and an immersive experience by Paulin, Paulin, Paulin and Sounds Like Paulin.

27 June-1 November 2026
Musée Fabre, 39 Bd Bonne Nouvelle, 34000 Montpellier

Paulin, Paulin, Paulin at Hauser & Wirth Monaco

Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, the Paris-based design studio expanding the legacy of Pierre Paulin, has curated a setting of furniture and art titled ‘Mise-en-scène’ that is in situ for the summer at Hauser & Wirth Monaco. Musical activations curated in collaboration with Sounds Like Paulin, the record label founded by Benjamin and Alice Paulin, will surround the ‘Déclive n°3’ recliner in orange; the geometric ‘Video Barnum’ seating with integrated speakers; and the modular ‘Chirac’ sofa alongside works by Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Rashid Johnson. Available to visit by appointment, the scene recontextualises Pierre Paulin’s heritage as a ‘living force’ for exchange in the vision of Paulin, Paulin, Paulin.

9 April-31 August 2026
Hauser & Wirth Monaco, One Monte-Carlo, Place du Casino, 98000 Monaco

Jean Prouvé at Fondation CAB

Paris-based 20th-century design specialist François Laffanour curates a selection of works by French architect, builder and designer Jean Prouvé, centring around the innovative ‘Coque’ and ‘Métropole’ prefabricated houses originally designed in Meudon. Their designs can be explored through photographic archives from the 1930s and dynamic architectural elements, presented alongside furniture including the ‘Cité’ bed, ‘Compas’ table, ‘Standard’ chair, ‘Antony’ armchair and ‘Marcoule’ bench. Step outside into the gardens to see one of Prouvé’s 6×6m demountable homes, and don’t miss the parallel exhibition of American artists Nassos Daphnis and Rita McBride.

14 March-31 October 2026
Fondation CAB Saint-Paul-de-Vence, chemin des Trious, 5766 Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Also read: Stay in Jean Prouvé’s 6x6 demountable house at Fondation CAB in south-east France