Reopened after three years of construction, the Grand Palais, the iconic monument of the Universal Exhibition of 1900, resonated this summer with the cheers of the audience aflame for the Olympic Games. In mid-October, the volume decreased on the occasion of the Art Basel Paris fairbut the admiration of the visitors remained intact. This enthusiasm was barely tempered on October 17 by the torrential rains that fell on the capital, forcing some exhibitors to protect their works from the water dripping through the glass roof.
On the same day, the employees of the neighboring Palais de la Découverte were also taken away. Not from bad weather, but from an email from their management reporting the loss of an exhibition gallery to the benefit of the Grand Palais, for the duration of the Pompidou Center’s presence within its walls, between 2025 and 2030.
From his appointment as head of the Grand Palais in August 2023, Didier Fusillier he fought to recover this space of 1,200 square meters, all the more precious in his eyes as the Pompidou Center will annex 2,800 square meters to organize its exhibitions during its activity, at least five years. “If we didn’t get this gallery, it would have condemned all the traffic, it was absurd”argues Didier Fusillier. The Ministry of Culture ended up arbitrating in his favor, for a “to help the Grand Palais manage the pressure on space caused by the Pompidou Center and more broadly to contribute to its economic model”we justify, Rue de Valois. “This gallery adjoins the main room, it has been integrated into the nave since its originsargues Didier Fusillier. What was abnormal was that it was annexed by the Discovery Palace. »
Fight square meter
Robin Jamet, scientific mediator at the Palais de la Découverte, does not see it that way. “When you look at the old plans, it’s very hard to tell where the boundary is between the two buildings and what should go to one or the other. Which is for sureadds the mathematician, This is because, during the renovation project, the Grand Palais gained surface area while the Palais de la Découverte lost some. We no longer have technical workshops to produce prototypes for exhibitions, we no longer have documentation centers. » And from now on, there is no gallery for the temporary exhibition “Artificial Intelligence”, which will have to find another location within the Palais de la Découverte when it reopens, scheduled for June 6, 2025.
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