A successful inauguration for the National Design Gallery
The mayor of Saint-Étienne and president of Saint-Étienne Métropole, Régis Juanico, officially inaugurated the National Design Gallery on June 10, 2026, in the presence of personalities from the world of culture and representatives of the institutions carrying the project.
To mark this launch, an opening night and an inaugural weekend rich in encounters and discoveries allowed several hundred people to come and discover, in a district in full transformation, this new space and its inaugural exhibition.
Back in pictures.
A successful opening night
Regis Juanico, mayor of Saint-Étienne and president of Saint-Étienne Métropole, inaugurated the National Design Gallery on June 10, in the presence of Francois-Xavier Bieuville, prefect of the Loire, of Yannis Bekhti, Deputy Mayor of Saint-Étienne and President of the EPCC Cité du Design – Ésad Saint-Étienne, fromEric Berlivet, vice-president of Saint-Étienne Métropole in charge of culture (events and equipment), as well as Cyril Hortala, vice-president of Saint-Étienne Métropole in charge – in particular – of design.
around them were gathered Aurélie VOLTZ, Director of the National Gallery of Design and MMC+, Eric Jourdan, Director of the EPCC Cité du Design – ESAD Saint-Étienne, Laurence Mauderli, curator of the inaugural exhibition, as well as the representatives of three of the four main cultural partners of this new space dedicated to public design collections: Martin Bethenod, Director of the National Center for Plastic Arts (CNAP), Laurent Le Bon, president of the Center Pompidou, and Etienne Tornier, Acting Director of MADD Bordeaux.
Near to 500 people had signed up to preview the inaugural exhibition, testifying to the strong interest aroused by this new cultural event.
A creative inaugural weekend
The launch festivities continued on June 13 and 14 during an inaugural and free weekend: Free visits, creative workshops, fashion shows, artistic performance allowed visitors to explore the diversity of contemporary art, crafts and design practices, while discovering the spaces and the first exhibition of the National Design Gallery. the other exhibitions of the Cité du design in the platinum were also open to the public for free.
Finally, the Observatory tower, whose opening to the public is scheduled for 2028, was visited by many curious people to preview the urban and architectural landscape of the district and the whole city.
International media coverage
In total, these are More than 80 French and international journalists and influencers who moved between June 9 and 16 to discover this new cultural place, confirming its influence as soon as it opened.
An inaugural exhibition to discover
To discover until March 7, 2027, the inaugural exhibition Design in hand. From language to object offers both historical and sensitive design exploration, articulated around six expressions testifying to the central place of the hand in both everyday language and in everyday life.
By highlighting the gestures, uses and forms that shape our daily life, and in a scenography giving pride of place to objects, both utilitarian and from artistic or prospective approaches, the course invites everyone to question the way in which design is born, evolves and is shared.
An invitation to take a new look at what surrounds us.