Design meets brutalism in Galerie Philia’s tenth-anniversary show
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Galerie Philia presents STRATES, a large-scale exhibition staged across two of France’s most emblematic brutalist landmarks: Jacques Kalisz’s Mont d’Est car park and Ricardo Bofill’s Espaces Abraxas in Noisy-le-Grand, Grand Paris. On view until November 30th, 2025, the show reflects on a decade of curatorial exploration that has seen the gallery bring contemporary design into conversation with architecture, philosophy, and civic life.
Since its founding in 2015, Galerie Philia has become known for situating contemporary design within charged architectural settings, from Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille to Oscar Niemeyer’s MAC Niterói in Brazil. STRATES continues this approach by transforming Kalisz’s monumental car park into an experimental exhibition space, reinterpreting the raw concrete geometry of the site through design. ‘Our curatorial approach has always been to place contemporary design in dialogue with charged architectural sites rather than neutral white cubes,’ says Philia’s co-founder Ygaël Attali. ‘When we encountered Jacques Kalisz’s Mont d’Est car park, we felt the same shock of recognition: an extraordinary piece of brutalist architecture, at once monumental and fragile, whose latent potential could be reactivated through design.’
all images by studio brinth
STRATES reimagines grand paris’s ruins as living narratives
Originally conceived as a vision of futuristic living on Paris’s periphery, Noisy-le-Grand continues to reflect the remnants of its post-war utopian ideals, lending symbolic weight to Philia’s decision to situate the STRATES exhibition there. ‘Our aesthetic often oscillates between brutalist geometry and wabi-sabi imperfection,’ Attali comments. ‘Noisy-le-Grand embodies this duality in a unique way: Ricardo Bofill’s Espaces Abraxas, just next door, are monumental, almost operatic — a vision of the future as a utopian theater. Jacques Kalisz’s Mont d’Est parking, by contrast, is raw, infrastructural, and today in a visibly fragile state. That fragility makes it even more compelling to us: the cracks, stains, and erosion of the concrete are not defects but traces of time, revealing the human destiny of the structure.’
Far from treating the site as a neutral container, STRATES uses its imperfections as material. ‘For us, beauty lies not only in form but in narrative,’ Attali explains. ‘The Mont d’Est car park offers both: its helicoidal ramps and raw textures are visually powerful, but equally important is the story it tells of collective ambition, decline, and potential rebirth.’ This approach continues the gallery’s long-standing refusal of the white cube model. ‘We do not mute or mutilate the site; we embrace it as part of the proposition itself,’ he adds. ‘In Noisy-le-Grand, this means that the traces of time on Kalisz’s structure are not erased but activated, allowing the works of design to resonate within a larger reflection on modernity, fragility, and continuity.’ Across the street, Bofill’s Abraxas ensemble, still layered with cinematic mythology, forms a counterpoint. ‘It offers a different yet complementary vision — monumental, theatrical, and still inhabited — forming a dialogue across the neighborhood that amplifies the resonance of the exhibition,’ Attali notes.
Galerie Philia presents STRATES, a large-scale exhibition staged across two brutalist landmarks
Site-specific commissions and dialogues with architecture
While the exhibition retraces Philia’s decade-long journey through key works from its roster of artists, several new commissions respond directly to the architecture. ‘Morghen Studio has developed a monumental light installation echoing the spiral geometry of the ramps, transforming circulation into a luminous journey,’ shares Attali. ‘Lucas and Tyra Morten have created seating elements that directly engage with the car park’s structural language. And Milla Vaahtera has designed a lamp that departs from her typically poetic and enchanted vocabulary, embracing instead a colder and more geometric expression.’
STRATES also forms part of a wider civic and cultural shift in Noisy-le-Grand, where the city and local public development company SOCAREN are rethinking how its monumental modernist fabric can evolve. ‘Noisy-le-Grand is emblematic of the late-20th-century ambition to create self-sufficient urban satellites around Paris,’ Attali points out. ‘Today, it is undergoing a process of revaluation: local officials are seeking to revitalise these iconic but underused spaces, making them more accessible to cultural and civic life.’
The exhibition is also rooted in community, involving local residents in its organization and guided visits. ‘We wanted the show not to be parachuted in from outside but truly integrated into the local fabric,’ Philia’s co-founder reflects. ‘In five years, I imagine this neighborhood as a place where architectural heritage is not demolished but reactivated, where the extraordinary vision of architects like Kalisz and Bofill becomes the foundation for new forms of urban vitality.’
Bofill’s Abraxas ensemble is still layered with cinematic mythology
the show reflects on a decade of curatorial exploration
Silver Light by Henry Wilson
Galerie Philia has become known for situating contemporary design within charged architectural settings
transforming Kalisz’s monumental car park into an experimental exhibition
Nautile by Elsa Foulon
several new commissions respond directly to the architecture
Folds by Laura Pasquino
the exhibition is also rooted in community, involving local residents in its organization and guided visits
STRATES also forms part of a wider civic and cultural shift in Noisy-le-Grand
project info:
name: STRATES – Galerie Philia’s 10th Anniversary Exhibition
dates: October 28th – November 30th, 2025
locations: Espaces d’Abraxas & Parking Jacques Kalisz (Mont d’Est), Noisy-le-Grand, Grand Paris, France
curation: Galerie Philia | @galerie.philia (Ygaël and Yaïr Attali)
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