Swiss architecture firm Christ & Gantenbein has completed the exhibition design for Paris Internationale 2023-2024, transforming the historic Poste Bergère-Trudaine, a former telephone exchange building, into a contemporary art venue. This marks the architects' second collaboration with the independent art fair, following their successful work on the 2022 edition of the nomadic event known for its commitment to spatial reuse and adaptive design approaches.
The architects developed an innovative wall-based system that replaces traditional enclosed exhibition booths with open partitions, creating a more fluid and interconnected gallery experience. These open-ended bays, positioned slightly back from the building's facade, establish multiple circulation pathways throughout the venue while promoting visual and spatial permeability. The design encourages spontaneous encounters between visitors, artworks, and galleries, with some instances where two galleries share a single bay space.
Staying true to Paris Internationale's minimalist aesthetic philosophy, Christ & Gantenbein employed an elemental architectural language featuring neon lighting, simple walls with minimal finishes, and reused materials and structures from previous fair editions. The exhibition environment successfully merges the building's architectural past with its contemporary function, set within the luminous plateaux of the former telephone exchange, framed by impressive double-height concrete beams and natural light from interior courtyards.
The venue itself, Poste Bergère-Trudaine, represents a significant piece of Parisian architectural history. Located at 15-17 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, the complex was originally designed in 1911 by architect François Le Coeur, with subsequent additions completed in 1919 and 1935. The building combines monumental industrial volumes with distinctive Art Deco ornamentation created by sculptor Szabo, creating a unique backdrop for contemporary art presentation.
Paris Internationale's strategy of occupying different transitional buildings each year addresses one of Paris's most pressing urban challenges: the underutilization and mono-functionality of the city's existing architectural stock. The fair typically selects buildings caught in an in-between state, awaiting renovation or adaptive reuse, and transforms them into temporary frameworks for contemporary art display. Through this approach, the event highlights the potential for creative reuse of urban infrastructure.
Christ & Gantenbein's intervention treats the historic building as an urban space itself, employing light and reversible systems that respect the structure's heritage while accommodating modern exhibition needs. The architects' approach allows the raw, infrastructural character of the stripped-down interiors to serve as a dramatic backdrop, with the building's bare surfaces left exposed in anticipation of future renovation projects.
For the 2023-2024 editions, the fair successfully accommodated 71 galleries across 5,000 square meters of exhibition space within the former telephone exchange. The design solution demonstrates how thoughtful architectural intervention can breathe new life into historic structures while supporting contemporary cultural programming and creating meaningful connections between past and present urban uses.
