Large, a new contemporary art destination, will open on Île Seguin in Paris in autumn 2026. Located on the former Renault factory site, which was closed to the public for more than a century, the project marks the reopening of this historic industrial landmark. Designed by RCR Arquitectes, winner of the 2017 Pritzker Prize, in collaboration with CALQ, Large anchors La Pointe des Arts, a new mixed-use cultural district on the upstream tip of the island.
Large is a hybrid art center dedicated to creation, exhibitions, and education. The 5,000m2 facility includes 2,500m2 of exhibition space and focuses on contemporary French art, presenting works by emerging artists alongside major figures of the 20th century while supporting new commissions and public programs.
The architecture is conceived around a sensory experience of art. A sequence of spaces unfolds from the intimate scale of the cafe to a 1,000m2 main gallery, while natural light is filtered through aluminum moucharabieh screens. The exterior is clad in weathering Corten steel, reinterpreting the site’s industrial heritage, with anodized aluminum and exposed concrete creating a restrained material palette. An interior public street connects the plaza, cinema, retail spaces, and art center, drawing views and daylight from the Seine into the building.
Large is the centerpiece of La Pointe des Arts, which also includes an eight-screen cinema, a 230-room hotel, 20,000m2 of office space, shops, and restaurants.
The Inaugural exhibition, ‘Imaginary Engine: From Masterpieces of the Collection Renault to Artists of Today’, is curated by Cecilia Alemani. Drawing on the site’s history as the home of the Renault factories, it explores the relationship between humans, machines, and the automobile. The exhibition brings together works from the Renault Foundation for Art and Culture—including Victor Vasarely, Jean Dubuffet, Jean Tinguely, and Robert Doisneau—with works by contemporary artists. Organized into five sections—The Factory of My Thoughts, Social Bodies, Motor Forces, Objects of Desire, and The Human Machine—the exhibition examines the legacy of industrial modernity alongside today’s technological and social transformations.
