Contemporary art invites itself to the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine! From October 16, 2026 to January 3, 2027, the museum on Trocadéro Square in the 16th arrondissement of Paris welcomes four new exhibitions that fuse contemporary creation with architectural heritage.
On the program: geometric works by François Morellet, sculptures by Kennedy Yanko, paintings by Ma Kelu, and projects from Atelier Architecture Perraudin, winner of the 2024 National Grand Prize for Architecture. A chance to discover different ways of inhabiting, transforming, and perceiving space.
These four proposals take place in the galleries of the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, at the Palais de Chaillot. Three of them are part of the 2025 program centered on the dialogue between architecture and contemporary art. The idea? To juxtapose the museum's historical collections with contemporary creations, playing with forms, volumes, materials and perspectives.
To mark the centenary of the birth of François Morellet (1926-2016), the Cité de l'architecture, in partnership with the Centre Pompidou and the Centre national des arts plastiques, is dedicating an exhibition to this French artist, a major figure of geometric abstraction.
Entitled « François Morellet, Traits d'esprit », it brings together nearly forty works, including three monumental pieces, on view in the permanent collection. Sculptures, installations, drawings and reproductions offer insight into how the artist engaged architecture and public space over several decades.
Facades, stations, gardens, and squares: Morellet leverages lines, grid patterns, neon, and geometric shapes to alter the way we perceive buildings.
Among the works highlighted are his wall interventions on the Beaubourg plateau in 1971, the neon installations at the Grande Halle de la Villette in 1986, and his piece “La Défonce,” created in 1989 in the La Défense district.
The exhibition also reveals how chance, mathematical rules, and humor shape his work, notably through the wordplay that accompanies his creations.
With “Kennedy Yanko, What Brings Us Together”, the Cité welcomes an American artist whose work sits at the crossroads of painting, sculpture and installation.
In the Gallery of Casts, Kennedy Yanko unveils a groundbreaking suite of sculptures conceived in dialogue with the monumental reproductions of French heritage. Set against the grand portals and carved figures, her works explore the contrasts between ancient forms and contemporary materials.
The artist works mainly with salvaged metals, reshaping them and pairing them with acrylic-painted surfaces. The steel still bears the marks of its previous uses, while the color creates draped, folded, or moving effects.
These sculptures with organic forms offer a fresh reading of the museum's collections, balancing material memory, volumes, and transformations.
Another encounter between past and present: « Ma Kelu, The Breath and the Void », which marks the artist's first exhibition in France, born in Shanghai in 1954.
Their paintings are on display in the gallery of mural paintings, in contact with the medieval frescoes preserved by the City. The display brings together two artistic realms separated by centuries, yet united by a shared focus on space, movement, and composition.
A founding member of the No Name group in the 1970s, Ma Kelu developed an abstract painting practice built on the repetition of gestures, variations in texture, and compositions that are often monochrome or bichrome.
Their forms evoke clouds, gusts of wind, and figures suspended in the air. Displayed opposite the medieval mural paintings, they invite viewers to observe the correspondences between the works and their architectural surroundings.
The fourth exhibition shifts its perspective by directly examining how we design and inhabit buildings.
Winner of the 2024 National Grand Prize for Architecture, Atelier Architecture Perraudin has been granted carte blanche in the Contemporary Architecture Gallery, under the title “Architecture? It’s meant to make people happy!”.
Founded in 2017 by Gilles Perraudin and Jean-Manuel Perraudin, the studio has carried forward a decades-long inquiry into local materials, energy efficiency, and the way buildings adapt to their surroundings.
The exhibition presents eight projects realized in France, Romania and Senegal, shown through photographs, sketches and graphic records. Homes, block housing, public facilities, or agricultural buildings illustrate the diverse ways of building that take climate, resources, and usage into account.
Massive stone, earth, shade, and natural ventilation play a central role in this approach. The route thus raises a timely question: how can we design durable, comfortable buildings that meet the needs of their occupants while using as few resources as possible?
From October 16, 2026 to January 3, 2027, visitors will be able to discover four complementary approaches:
Guided tours are also available for certain exhibitions. La Cité has announced special sessions around François Morellet on 25 October and 13 December 2026 at 3:00 PM, as well as a tour dedicated to Kennedy Yanko and Ma Kelu on 8 November 2026 at 3:00 PM. Participation details can be found on the official ticketing site.
To discover these exhibitions, head to the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, 1 place du Trocadéro, Paris 16th arrondissement, accessible from the Trocadéro and Iéna metro stations. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day except Tuesday, with a Thursday night opening until 9 p.m..
The price announced for the exhibitions is €13 at full price and €10 at a reduced rate, with access to the museum’s permanent collections included. The four exhibitions are on view until 3 January 2027, making it possible to plan a visit during the Christmas holidays.
Dates and Opening Time
From October 9, 2026 to January 3, 2027
Location
Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine
1 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre
75116 Paris 16
Route planner
Access
Metro Trocadéro or Iena
Official website
www.citedelarchitecture.fr
