Jean Nouvel unveils design for Fondation Cartier relocation in Venice exhibition

French architect Jean Nouvel has created an exhibition showcasing his plan to transform a Haussmann building in Paris into the new home of the Fondation Cartier art gallery.

The exhibition included models, drawings and screen displays revealing Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Nouvel's design, and was exhibited at Fondazione Giorgio Cini as a collateral event in this year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

Fondation Cartier is currently located in a glass and steel building designed by Nouvel, which opened in 1994 in Paris's 14th arrondissement.

For the gallery's new home, which is set to open later this year, Nouvel is overhauling a Haussmannian building next to the Louvre that was originally built in 1855.

Nouvel hopes to create a dynamic cultural space with his transformation, aiming to continue the legacy of his previous Fondation Cartier building.

"A site such as this one calls for boldness, courage that artists might not necessarily demonstrate in other institutional spaces," said Nouvel.

"The Fondation Cartier will likely be the institution offering the greatest differentiation of its spaces, the most diverse exhibition forms and viewpoints," Nouvel continued.

"Here, it is possible to do what cannot be done elsewhere, by shifting the system of the act of showing."

Floor-to-ceiling openings will be added to the ground floor facades, opening public access to the building from the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Rue de Rivoli and Place du Palais-Royal.

Mobile platforms will be added to the building's interior that can be moved for different exhibition needs, creating rooms up to 11 metres tall, and retractable ceilings will help control natural light.

Details of Nouvel's design are revealed in the Venice Architecture Biennale exhibition, which is on display until 14 September.

The centrepiece is a wooden scale architectural model that is split into two sections, allowing visitors to walk down the middle to view the interior proposal.

Elsewhere in the exhibition are photos and projections of the design, as well as booklets of plans, sections and elevations that visitors can pore over.

Other projects by Nouvel that have been featured on Dezeen include a pair of slanted skyscrapers in Paris and a lattice-covered tower in São Paulo.

Elsewhere at the Venice Architecture Biennale, car brand Porsche and the Norman Foster Foundation created a shimmering metal transport hub, while US practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro formed a structure that transforms canal water into coffee.

The images are courtesy of Jean Nouvel.

The Fondation Cartier by Jean Nouvel exhibition takes place from 10 May to 14 September 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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