This summer, Saint-Étienne is hosting a cultural constellation of events: a major Frank Stella retrospective, the opening of the National Design Gallery, and a double anniversary at the Le Corbusier site in Firminy. It's the unexpected city break of the season.

FRANK STELLA, THE MAJOR EXHIBITION

Frank Stella hadn't had a French retrospective since the 1980s. The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Saint-Étienne Métropole is remedying this oversight on a grand scale: 1,000 square meters, nearly 100 works, six decades to explore in the footsteps of the great renewer of American abstraction. Stella, who passed away in May 2024, spent his life exploring the boundaries of painting, from his early minimalist Black Paintings to the monumental metal reliefs of the 1990s, by way of the Protractor Series and his later architectural sculptures. The chronological exhibition unfolds across painting, printmaking, and sculpture, creating a dialogue between the MAMC+'s American collection and the holdings of the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, where Stella received his initial training. A major exhibition, befitting a body of work that redefined 20th-century abstraction.

MAMC+
Rue Fernand Léger,
42270 Saint-Priest-en-Jarez

THE LE CORBUSIER SITE IN FIRMINY
THE DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY

Fifteen kilometers from Saint-Étienne, Firminy is home to Le Corbusier's last major architectural commission: an entire neighborhood he designed in the 1960s. The Maison de la Culture (House of Culture), completed in 1965, the same year as his death, celebrates its tenth anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July. And to top it all off, the Church of Saint-Pierre, whose construction lasted more than forty years after the architect's death, will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in November. The Le Corbusier Site marks this double anniversary with a season blending contemplative observation and immersive experience. On the program: the exhibition SOLAR, a sensitive odyssey by Döppel Studio; the anniversary weekend of Saint-Pierre Church; and a large participatory crochet patchwork, created by residents, tourists, and visitors, which will cover the church square as a collective shade structure. A monumental yet patient immersion.

Did you know?

Saint-Étienne is the only French city listed in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for design, since 2010. This recognition stems from its manufacturing past, from ribbons to weapons, and is maintained by its International Design Biennial, one of the oldest in the world.

LE CORBUSIER SITE - FIRMINY
Boulevard Eugène Claudius-Petit,
42700 Firminy

NATIONAL DESIGN GALLERY, A FIRST IN FRANCE

Saint-Étienne is inaugurating a unique venue in France, dedicated to showcasing public design collections. At the heart of the Cité du Design, its thousand square meters host 30,000 pieces in annual exhibitions. The first, Design in Hand. From Language to Object, follows the object as it is passed down, from the industrial heritage of Saint-Étienne to contemporary transformations. Saint-Étienne, the capital of design, finally has its national showcase.

NATIONAL DESIGN GALLERY,
CITY OF DESIGN
14 Esplanade Jacques Bonnaval,
42000 Saint-Étienne

AT THE ORIGINS OF DESIGN:
RIBBONS, WEAPONS AND CYCLES

Before becoming the capital of design, Saint-Étienne was a land of industrial excellence and precision manufacturing. The Museum of Art and Industry preserves this history: the largest collection of bicycles in France, ornate weapons, and above all the silk ribbons that made the city's fortune in the 19th century. It is this mastery of hand and machine that, a century later, gave rise to the city's design vocation.

MUSEUM OF ART AND INDUSTRY
2 Place Louis-Comte, 42000 Saint-Étienne
Reopening August 1, 2026