Cité Idéale

With its expositions, participatory workshops, conferences and evening spectacles, the Cité Idéale invites you every year, for one full day, to explore a subject in a playful, educational and always homey manner. The 2016 edition took place on June 4th with the theme "Build and Live". On this occasion, and only until November 4th, expositions and facilities will be taking over the grounds of the Royal Abbey, which you will have a chance to explore during your visit.

More information on the website: www.cite-ideale.fr

The cloister of Saint-Benoît welcomes the exposition "Building Fontevraud". With the support of models and video presentations, discover the surrounding environment of the Royal Abbey and the architectural turmoil that it has known over the ages. You will have the opportunity to Lego® constructs created by visitors, and of course you may create your own if you so desire. Finally, take the chance to admire and take in the amazing Scale Model of Time created by the machinery company of Île de Nantes and its founder, François Delarozière.

Experience the Great Escape in the old corridor of the prison guards! Organized by the MONSTR collective, this course serves as a reminder of the Royal Abbey's past as a prison. Moreover, it invites young and old to play the roles of a fugitive and a policeman driving around in pedal cars.

The Saint-Benoît chapel welcomes the exposition "Paper Architecture". Created by the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, this event displays the work of four artists that work with paper. Cut paper, glued paper, carved paper... this will make you see paper in an all new light, as it conjures architectural works and unexpected stories.

Located in the top dormitory of the Royal Abbey, the exhibition "Reenchant the World" was created with the 40 laureates of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. This award, established by architect Jana Revedin, along with the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine and the members of the International Scientific Committee, each year rewards five architects who stand out for their promotion of sustainable development and their participatory approach to architecture for the needs of society.

The exhibition considers the architect's mission in an era of great demographic, urban, ecological, energy and industrial transitions. More than 200 unreleased projects show how to reenchant the human condition, by facing transitions and changes in their own home turf.

Finally, you will have the chance to discover curious cabinets that unveil the laboratories of some architects. More specifically, each of them contains a collection of objects that describe a world view and commitment.