In 2021, the Grand Palais Éphémère opened to the public on the Champ-de-Mars. This temporary building, devised jointly by the Rmn Grand Palais and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee and designed by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, will host the major arts, fashion and sports events usually held in the Nave during the renovation of the Grand Palais, as well as being home to cultural and artistic events devised by the Rmn Grand Palais. Holding these events in a central, prestigious space in the capital during the works at the Grand Palais helps ensure their success, as well as preserving the role of Paris as world capital of art and culture. In summer 2024, the Grand Palais Éphémère will be the venue for the Olympic judo and wrestling competitions as well as the Paralympic para judo and wheelchair rugby competitions.

Despite the ambitions of the project, and the public health crisis, the challenge was overcome: construction of the building began on 3 September 2020 with the raising of the impressive central arch, and was completed in May 2021. It took eight months of work and finishing touches to perfect what was intended to be an exemplary project in terms of simplicity and environmental credentials which, through the international events held there as well as through its architecture and design, should demonstrate the cultural, environmental and sporting aspirations of our time. It is essentially built around a European spruce-wood framework structure, held together by a double skin with significant acoustic and thermal properties, thereby using less energy. Its understated architecture has become an integral part of the site s dynamic for the entirety of its installation.

After opening to the public with the 200 dancers brought together by the artist Boris Charmatz on 12 and 14 June, life at the Grand Palais Éphémère was cadenced by major public events, including the Palais Augmenté festival, the participative performance Société en chantier, Art Paris Art Fair and the International Rare Book and Fine Art Fair.

In order to forge fruitful links with its new environment and with the residents of the 7th and 15th arrondissements, the Rmn Grand Palais has implemented cultural engagement activities with them in mind, in connection with the events hosted. These include workshops for children aged 8 to 12 from elementary schools during Société en chantier, hosting classes from a training college during the Taste of Paris gastronomy festival, and a visit from students of the Nomad school (a school in the 15th arrondissement specialising in event management) for the International Rare Book and Fine Art Fair.

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