La Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will unveil The Fondation Cartier by Jean Nouvel at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice from May 10th to September 14th, 2025, as part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Presented within the Venice Biennale’s Collateral Events, the exhibition offers a rare preview of the future Paris home of the Fondation, designed by Jean Nouvel.
Known for his radical glass-and-steel structure on Boulevard Raspail, Jean Nouvel now reimagines a 19th-century Haussmannian building into a fluid cultural landscape. Central to the show is a large-scale sectional model of the new site, revealing five height-adjustable platforms that enable shifting volumes and spatial arrangements. Visitors can explore immersive 1:1 scale photographs, retractable ceiling prototypes, and architectural plans that bring the evolving site to life. One section highlights the innovative mechanics that frame—or obscure—views of Paris, echoing Nouvel’s idea of architecture as both container and context. The exhibition also reflects on the Fondation’s legacy through a video montage of past museographic projects and a delicate glass engraving of its iconic original building. Seen through the windows of the Cini Foundation, the backdrop of the Venetian lagoon mirrors the urban interplay central to the new Paris site.
On May 9th, a public program will invite leading architects and thinkers to reflect on the museum as a space of architectural experimentation. The conversation will continue throughout the exhibition, with videos of the talks presented within the gallery.