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Key figures

Origin and history

The Guimard building at Cadet Station is an emblematic element of the Paris metro, designed by architect Hector Guimard in the Art Nouveau style. Located at the corner of La Fayette Street and Cadet Street in the 9th arrondissement, it is the unique access to the station opened on November 5, 1910, when the first section of line 7 between Opéra and Porte de la Villette came into service. This edicle, inscribed in historical monuments since 1978, symbolizes the visual identity of the entrances to the Paris metro at the beginning of the twentieth century, although most of them have now disappeared.

Cadet station owes its name to the proximity of Cadet Street, itself linked to the Cadet brothers, royal gardeners under Charles IX and owners of the "closed Cadet", a land crossed by an old road. The edicle, with its organic forms and cast iron structures, illustrates Guimard's innovative aesthetic, which marked the Parisian urban landscape. Although the station's interior decoration has evolved (notably with a tile inspired by the American flag in tribute to the Marquis de La Fayette), the exterior structure remains an intact testimony of Art Nouveau architecture.

In 2016, the school received a renewal of its protection for historic monuments, confirming its heritage importance. Nearby, a mosaic of Hervé Mathieu-Bachelot, Lumière en flèves (1982), adorns the access corridor, adding a contemporary artistic touch to this site where the history of the metro, freemasonry (with the Grand Orient of France neighbouring) and cultural life of Paris, between the Folies Bergère and the Musée de la Franc-maçonnerie.

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