A little bit of design
In Saint-Étienne, design has its roots in the city’s history. Between the Museum of Art and Industry, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, designers’ studios, and more, one thing is certain: after your city break in Saint-Étienne, design will hold no secrets for you.
OK, but what exactly is Saint-Étienne design?
Saint-Étienne design is not a sleek chair in a white living room. Nor is it an overpriced object that you dare not touch. No, here, we think about design differently. We test it, we shake it up, we put it on the streets, in schools, on buses, in the city. It’s design that serves a purpose, that questions, that transforms everyday life.
Saint-Étienne is the only French city that is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Design. Who would have thought? Here, we generate ideas, recycle materials, work with residents, and imagine solutions for tomorrow. Design in Saint-Étienne is a state of mind: sometimes a little rough around the edges, often collective, and resolutely committed. It spills out of museums, breaks down walls, and takes a step aside. It is the design of resourcefulness, resilience, and collaboration. Not a fixed style. More like a living laboratory.
In short, it’s not really what you think it is. And that’s what makes it interesting.
The roots of design
This is where Saint-Étienne design took root. At the The Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, it quickly becomes clear that Saint-Étienne has always had a taste for doing things differently. Ribbons, weapons, bicycles: three collections that help us understand how Sainté forged its relationship with design long before it became a buzzword. Objects that tell the story of how we learned to think with our hands, to design without knowing it. This museum isn’t just for looking, it’s for digging deeper, searching, and saying to yourself, “Hey, someone had to think of that.” A good place to visit? Definitely. Come on, let’s push open the door and discover what “pushing the boundaries” means here.
📍 2 Place Louis Comte, 42000 Saint-Étienne
🚊 Tram T1 – 8 min from downtown Saint-Étienne
“Modern” design
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Saint-Étienne Métropole welcomes visitors in optimal conditions. Since its opening in 1987, the MAMC+—as we like to call it around here—has been a major cultural player in the region, with more than 23,000 works in its collections (yes, really!) and nearly 2 million visitors over the decades.
Right now, the museum is going full “grand écart” with exhibitions around the Fluxus movement, video, and design.
We start with “Alison Knowles. A Retrospective,” the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to this American pioneer, the only woman in the core Fluxus group, who explored performance, sound poetry, food as a medium, and large-scale installations very early on.
We continue with “Gernot Wieland. Songs for the Undesirables,” a journey through films, drawings, and ceramics where the artist plays with childhood memories, psychoanalysis, humour, and storytelling.
Then we shift towards “The Fluxus Galaxy. MAMC+ Collection,” highlighting the museum’s Fluxus holdings—enriched by generous donations—and showing how this international network reshaped the way artworks were conceived and shared.
And because design is never far away, “Glass, Beyond Material. The Cirva Collections” creates a dialogue between visual arts, design, and research through glass-based projects born in the Marseille-based lab where artists, designers, technicians, and engineers experiment with new ways of working with material.
So, what are we waiting for? Time to book the next visit!
📍 Rue Fernand Léger, 42270 Saint-Priest-en-Jarez
🚊 Tram T1 – 15 min from downtown Saint-Étienne
The design laboratory in Saint-Étienne
In Saint-Étienne, there is a former weapons factory that has been converted into a laboratory of ideas. The Cité du Design is not a static museum, but a living, breathing place that tests, researches, and challenges. Here, objects, services, and spaces are designed, but so are ways of doing, thinking, and living. You’ll meet students, researchers, artists, and the tinkerers of the future. Things are constantly changing, evolving, and sometimes even stumbling…
The building that stands out here is La Platine. A strange beast that houses temporary exhibitions, a shop, and a materials library where you can touch, browse, and find inspiration. And every two years, the International Design Biennial shakes things up with exhibitions everywhere (see you in 2027), in the city, in the streets, in places you wouldn’t expect. Design here is not elitist. It’s for everyone. It’s an excuse to ask questions, to do things differently, to imagine tomorrow.
So, whether you’re curious or not, push open the door and let yourself be carried away. When you leave, you’ll never see public benches or door handles the same way again. And to think that it all started here…
📍 14 Rue Marius Patinaud, 42000 Saint-Étienne
🚊 Tram T1 or T2 – 10 min from downtown Saint-Étienne
A must-see UNESCO site
Continue your city break by exploring the southern part of the destination. Between architecture and nature, there is something for everyone here.
We start with the largest European complex recognized by UNESCO (for its cultural center), designed by architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier. Here, we try out the guided tours to learn everything there is to know about this work and, above all, to be surprised by all the gems it has to offer. We strongly recommend visiting the church on a sunny morning to marvel at the light it offers (shhh, we won’t say any more). And to enjoy a superb panorama, head to the roof terrace of the housing unit.
Once our architectural stroll is over, we head for the Gorges de la Loire Nature Reserve. Here, the atmosphere changes completely, and we find ourselves in the heart of nature. This is the perfect opportunity to try out one of the many eco-friendly activities on offer. How about a boat trip? But not just any boat—an electric boat that doesn’t require a license, so we book without delay with Nautisme Delorme. If we prefer dry land, then we venture into the Gorges de la Loire with Guillaume Thiollière (the tulip-faced one), our botanical expert. On the agenda: a nature outing, wild harvesting, wild cooking, and ethnobotany—nothing less!
And why not go further by exploring these trips:
Le Saint-É City Pass
To visit as many tourist sites as possible in 48 or 72 hours, there’s an essential pass: the Saint-É City Pass. Retailing from €19.50, it’s the key to making the most of your stay in Saint-Étienne. Find out more.
