Founded in 2006, the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of cinema. Its mission is twofold: to conserve, restore, and disseminate the historical heritage of Pathé, and to promote cultural engagement through film programming, exhibitions, and public events. The Foundation is located on Avenue des Gobelins in Paris, in a building designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.
The collection includes more than 700 films produced or distributed by Pathé, the pioneering French film company established in 1896. Alongside these works, the Foundation holds a wide range of materials—advertising posters, cinema equipment, books, magazines, photographs, drawings, costumes, and other artifacts—that together provide a comprehensive view of cinema’s development.
Its programming is equally diverse, offering temporary exhibitions, film screenings, conferences, guided tours, and special events that allow visitors to explore cinema from multiple perspectives.
The historical facade of the Seydoux-Pathé Foundation on Avenue des Gobelins, designed by Auguste Rodin in the second half of the 19th century; photo © Federica Lusiardi/Inexhibit
Renzo Piano’s Architectural Design
The Foundation’s headquarters occupies the site of a former theater and cinema, whose façade, designed by Auguste Rodin in 1869, has been preserved. Behind it, Renzo Piano created a completely new structure, completed in 2014. Covering 2,200 square meters (23,680 square feet), the building is notable for its curving, cocoon-like form clad in perforated metal. Hidden from the street, it contains a multifunctional lobby, two exhibition spaces, a 70-seat cinema, and the Foundation’s offices, all illuminated by natural light from a transparent roof.
An inner garden planted with birch trees separates the main building from a smaller annex, which houses a café and a library with a reading room.
Despite the site’s constraints, Piano achieved a superb design that is both distinctive and harmonious. The main volume, with its cocoon-like shape emphasized by perforated metal cladding, is the centerpiece, but the garden and annex also play an essential role in shaping the complex’s atmosphere. Together, they create a calm and welcoming environment that contrasts with the busy streets just beyond the walls. From the café terrace, visitors can enjoy a quiet moment that feels far removed from the energy of central Paris.
The main entrance of the Foundation with the metal-clad “cocoon” designed by Piano in the background; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
A garden with a little grove of birch trees is situated between the “cocoon” building and the cafe pavilion; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
A view of the Foundation’s lobby; at the time of my visit, it featured an exhibition on Italian director Federico Fellini; named “Rina”, the golden rhinoceros maquette was featured in Fellini’s 1983 movie “And the Ship Goes On”; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
One of the temporary exhibition galleries is located in the main building’s basement; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
The exhibition space on the first floor was empty when I visited Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
A view of the rear pavilion, also designed by Renzo Piano, from the inner garden; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
A view of the small library, mostly made of plywood, housed in the rear pavilion; foto © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
The inner garden and the main building from inside the cafe; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit
The “cocoon” from the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation’s entrance atrium; photo © Riccardo Bianchini/Inexhibit