Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine (CAPA) is a public establishment established in 2004 in the Paris wing of the Palais de Chaillot (16th arrondissement). Its mission is to promote French architecture and built heritage, in France and internationally, through exhibitions, a specialized school (the École de Chaillot) and unique collections.

His history dates back to 1795, when Alexandre Lenoir founded the first museum of French Monuments at the École des Beaux-Arts to save works threatened by the Revolution. This pioneer museum, organized chronologically and romanticly, was dismantled in 1815 under the Restoration. In 1879, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc revived the idea with the Museum of Comparative Sculpture, installed at the Palais du Trocadéro during the Universal Exhibition of 1878. This museum, centered on casts of monuments, is accompanied by the creation of a chair of the history of architecture entrusted to Anatole de Baudot, disciple of Viollet-le-Duc.

In 1937, Paul Deschamps modernized and expanded the museum during the reconstruction of the Chaillot Palace for the Universal Exhibition. The Musée des Monuments Français then enriched departments dedicated to murals and stained glass, expanding its vocation beyond sculpture. Between 1998 and 2004, Jean-Louis Cohen proposed a project of Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, merging the museum, the École de Chaillot and the French Institute of Architecture (IFA). The 2004 decree formalizes its creation in the form of an EPIC, with a shift towards urban planning and the city.

Inaugurated in 2007, CAPA became a major cultural venue, with 22 000 m2 of space including permanent galleries (mouldings, models, paintings), temporary exhibitions, a specialized library and auditorium. Its collections include 7,000 casts, 350 reproductions of wall paintings, 300 models and 450 architectural archives. The program includes successful exhibitions such as 1925, when Art Deco seduces the world (205,000 visitors) or Archi & comics (108,000 visitors), as well as debates on the future of metropolitan areas, such as the Grand Pari de l'agglomeration parisienne (2009).

CAPA governance has evolved with figures such as François de Mazières (2004–2012), Guy Amsellem (2012–2021), and Julien Bargeton since 2024. The site, accessible by Trocadéro Metro, attracts more than 250,000 visitors annually, confirming its central role in valuing heritage and architectural innovation.

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