For the European Heritage Days, the Bourse de Commerce is opening its doors free of charge, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (booking required) for the public to discover the historical architecture of the space.
Explore the building and discover the cast iron dome—one of the first in France—the machine room, the double helix staircase, and Tadao Ando’s concrete cylinder. Our mediator-guides are available in the different spaces of the museum to reveal the history of the building and present its different architectural elements, dating from the sixteenth century to the present day
In the auditorium, watch screenings which will take you behind the scenes of the unique site of the Bourse de Commerce.
With the online app—free of charge and without any required download—listen to the “People of the Bourse” audio tour and immerse yourself in five centuries of history of this iconic building in the Halles district of Paris.
A children’s booklet is available free of charge in the museum Salon or as an online download
Theme for 2022: Sustainable Heritage
The Bourse de Commerce, which has witnessed four centuries of architectural history, has been restored and transformed into a museum of contemporary art by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the NeM / Niney et Marca Architectes agency, and the Pierre-Antoine Gatier agency.
This singular monument, one of the few in Paris with a circular plan, combines a monumental Renaissance column with the remains of an eighteenth-century grain exchange, covered by a spectacular metal dome from 1812. Reconstructed for the 1889 Universal Exposition, the building became the Bourse de Commerce.
Just as with his Venetian museums, François Pinault has chosen to present his contemporary art collection in the heart of the city, practically at its epicentre, in an existing monument which has been brilliantly reconfigured. The architect of this transformation, Tadao Ando, used the circularity of the building to inscribe a circle within the circle, a cylinder in the heart of the Rotunda: “The idea was to regenerate a historic site: honouring the memory of the city inscribed in its walls and interior, while bringing in another structure…. While scrupulously following the historical landmarks of the building, Tadao Ando has designed a project that reconciles radicalness and simplicity in a single gesture,” says François Pinault. “He has succeeded in the feat of creating a new world within this edifice. A world that is respectful of the past, yet one that is capable of celebrating the present and embracing the future.”
After an exemplary restoration that preserved all the building’s heritage features, from the monumental panorama painted beneath the dome to its forgotten industrial heritage (the cold storage room of the old Les Halles disrict), the Bourse de Commerce is now entirely focused on contemporary creation and the art of our time.
