Abinal & Ropars

It was in 2008 that Edouard Ropars and Julien Abinal partnered up to establish an architecture office in Paris bearing both their names. A city of choice for each of them, Paris was nevertheless the obvious place from which to establish their practice; the city quickly became the main territory of their work, but, more importantly, its cultural ground.

From their earliest projects for Paris’s nightlife scene to the buildings they have since completed, which stand as landmarks in the Parisian landscape; from their connections with the worlds of contemporary creation to their equally contemporary relationships with the actors of the city’s construction and transformation, their practice seems to have somewhere between “exuberance and discipline”, to borrow the title of a perceptive critical essay on their work.

If they were among the first to reaffirm the self-evident mineral quality of Parisian architecture, they have never ceased to refine and sophisticate its execution, drawing explicitly on the richness, texture and beauty of their city. The current theme of transformation can therefore be seen here as the ultimate act of reintegrating into Parisian heritage a certain strand of modern heritage that had violently challenged it.

A tribute to Paris, then: the exhibition will present both projects already built and currently under construction here, as well as a parallel body of major cultural projects conceived elsewhere; a cabinet of curiosities seeking to retrace the intimate and cultural, intellectual and professional journey of a contemporary architecture office.

Opening: November 11, 2026, 6:30 p.m.