On March 12, 2021, the Grand Palais, one of Paris’ most beloved architectural marvels, shut down. The time had come for the century-old glass-and-steel palace to enter its most ambitious renovation yet. Last summer, the first phase was completed just in time for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where the building’s main nave was unveiled. After nearly five years, the final phase of the €486 million (about $562 million) renovation has been completed and is now, at long last, open to the public.
Led by François Chatillon and his eponymous firm Chatillon Architectes, the renovation meticulously combines fresh, contemporary elements with the Grand Palais’ historic character. The building, which was originally constructed for the Universal Exposition of 1900, is renowned for its riveted steel beams, massive windows, and signature glass nave, and Chatillon was careful to respect that architectural integrity. In fact, the renovation involved no additional building, and yet managed to increase the spaces accessible to the public by 140%—all thanks to the removal of a partition wall that has separated the front and back of the building. Here, there’s a cafeteria on the mezzanine, a boutique, and staggered seating, with fixtures and furniture designed by L’Atelier Senzu.
“Space is the truest luxury,” Chatillon says of the renovation. “Luxury at its most pure is nature, like being alone in the mountains. In cities, we can create vast spaces that feel natural.”
Even with the newfound grandeur and airiness of the central axis, the space still needed to be modular in order to accommodate an array of different events, ranging from art exhibitions to haute couture runways. To achieve this sense of flexibility, Chanel designed and produced a mobile curtain through the direction of Studio MTX, a part of the fashion house’s artisanal network, Le19M. Towering at a height of 26 feet, and stretching 49 feet across, the partition consists of nine sections, with 70 ornamental strips sewn on its sides sewn. All told, the curtain required 720 hours of work to complete, some of which were dedicated to perfecting its green color to match that of the Grand Palais’ iron details.
“We did hundreds of color tests with and without light to ensure that [the curtain] blended in as much as possible with all the shades of green found in the buildings,” Mathieu Bassée, the artistic director of Studio MTX, told Women’s Wear Daily. “We also worked on the transparency of the fabric in order not to block out the light coming from the nave.”
Beyond this clever—and undoubtedly elegant—solution, the renovation also entailed restoring the building’s statues, facades, and interior decor; modernizing technical features; and improving accessibility.
“Restoration is always innovation,” Chatillon told Wallpaper*. “My work is like Michelangelo with a piece of marble block. The solutions—the final work—are already inside. Restoration work has to set them free. You have to be imaginative.”
Grand Palais is now open to the public. To plan your own visit and learn more about upcoming events, visit the Grand Palais website.
After an ambitious five-year, $560 million renovation, the Grand Palais in Paris has finally reopened to the public.
The Grand Palais was originally constructed for the Universal Exposition of 1900, and is renowned for its riveted steel beams, massive windows, and signature glass nave.
Panoramic view of the Grand Palais, from 2009. (Photo: Robert Will via Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.5)
The Grand Palais in 2006. (Photo: David Monniaux via Wikimedia Commons, CC 3.0)
The Grand Palais: Website | Instagram
Chatillon Architectes: Website | Instagram
Sources: The Grand Palais is a Parisian architectural feast, emerging from a mammoth restoration project; The Second Phase of the Grand Palais’s Reopening Is Complete—Here’s What You Can Expect; Grand Palais reopening; Paris’ Grand Palais Completes Five-year Renovation; New Grand Palais: Renovation Of An Extraordinary Monument To Meet Contemporary Challenges
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