Top 10 industrial sites reincarnated as bustling art hubs

New for 2023 - opening on 22 March

Ideally located in a leafy setting in Meudon and accessible from Paris by the RER C suburban rail line, Hangar Y is something of a landmark in French aeronautical history. It was from here, on 9 August 1884, that the first full round trip flight of an airship took place. A remnant of the 1879 Universal Exhibition, today listed as a historical monument, this huge building is reopening with a programme combining art, science and nature.

For more than 120 years, the Centquatre (104) housed Paris's municipal funeral services. Since 2008, however, its two massive halls have become a bona fide artistic and cultural hub. Set right by the Canal de l'Ourcq, the centre welcomes artists and visitors to enjoy its contemporary art exhibitions or browse its boutiques and bookshops.
Le Centquatre : 5, rue Curial - 75019 Paris

The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin, an offshoot of the Marais gallery, has taken over a 20th-century former ironworks factory in the suburb of Pantin. Only 30 minutes by RER E from the Gare Saint-Lazare, the vast site is programmed with exhibitions of often monumental works by world-famous artists, from Georg Baselitz, to Alex Katz or Anselm Kiefer.

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin : 69, avenue du Général Leclerc - 93500 Pantin

The city doesn't have the monopoly on contemporary art. And proof can be found at the Galleria Continua in Boissy-le-Châtel, at the heart of the countryside east of Paris.

This former 10,000 m2 paper factory has presented, since 2007, works by Anish Kapoor, Daniel Buren and Mona Hatoum.

Set at the foot of the Butte Montmartre, the Halle Saint-Pierre — originally a market, then a school — is now a centre dedicated to outsider art and art brut.

Its typical 19th-century iron-clad structure, in the Baltard style, houses a museum, a gallery, an auditorium, an arts bookshop and a café.

Once a slaughterhouse, the Grande Halle de la Villette has maintained its cast-iron structure. Renovated by the architects Bernard Reichen and Philippe Robert, this new cultural space offers a programme that combines circus arts, dance, theatre and urban culture.

In the midst of the contemporary buildings around the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, Les Frigos — a former railway refrigeration hangar — immediately catches the eye with its colourful frescos.

Since 1980, the building has been transformed into an artists residence for more than 200 creators and is regularly open to the public for exhibitions, shows and open days.

Les Frigos : 19, rue des Frigos - 75013 Paris

Once a chocolate factory, the Ferme du Buisson de Noisiel in the suburbs east of Paris has become a space for experimental art and cross-cultural interactions.

At just 30 minutes on the RER A from Châtelet-les-Halles, its brick and exposed timber buildings now house six theatres and an arts centre.

Trombones and trumpets were once the main sound at the Maison Couesnon, a former brass instruments factory in Belleville.

Transformed in 1937 into a trade union house for French metalworkers, it is today an arts centre — the Maison des Métallos — which offers a rich programme of exhibitions and debates, mixing art with social issues.

With its red brick façades, this former eyelet factory in Ivry-sur-Seine is a marvel of industrial architecture, reachable from Paris in just 20 minutes via metro line 7.

Today, it has switched its metal rings for art works from the Centre d’Art Contemporain d’Ivry. Each year, four exhibitions by emerging artists, both French and international, cover its walls.