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Key figures

Origin and history

The Cité Musée Tony-Garnier, originally named the Tony-Garnier Urban Museum, is an outdoor cultural space located in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon, in the heart of the United States district, designed by architect Tony Garnier. This original museum consists of 25 painted walls, a 1930s witness apartment and a space dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The frescoes, produced between 1988 and 1993 by CitéCréation in collaboration with international artists, illustrate Garnier's architectural and social visions. A 25th wall, added in 2001, represents the terrace of his villa in Saint-Rambert Île Barbe.

Created in 1992 in associative form with the support of patrons, the museum was awarded the "Twentieth Century Heritage" label in 2003. He was visited by 45,000 visitors in 2019, but faced financial and organisational difficulties from 2021 onwards, notably after the vandalism of a fresco in February 2021 and the non-renewal of regional grants in 2022. These crises led to its temporary closure in July 2022, before a reopening in October under a new team. In 2024, the institution changed its name to the "Tony Garnier Museum City".

The frescoes, each with a surface of 230 m2, combine representations of Ideal Cities designed by artists from the six continents (United States, Mexico, India, Russia, Egypt, Ivory Coast) and local scenes. Between 2016 and 2020, a renovation campaign was carried out: one third of the walls were redesigned, and the visionary Tony Garnier fresco became Les Temps de la Cité. The project, led by Grand Lyon Habitat and the Committee of Tenants, is part of a participatory approach with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

In addition to permanent works, the museum offers temporary exhibitions and additional works chosen by residents, visible from the U.S. Boulevard. The witness apartment, furnished in the style of the 1930s, offers a concrete overview of the living conditions of the era in this emblematic district, marked by urban utopia of Garnier.

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