Through the Lens of Architecture: a photography exhibition at Université Paris Cité.
Walking through the streets of Paris, it’s easy to forget that the city itself is one vast open-air architecture museum. Every façade of every building along its boulevards and streets tells a story. This year, in 2025, the Université Paris Cité (Paris City University), celebrating its fifth anniversary, invites the public to see these stories in a new light through a photography exhibition dedicated to architecture.
The exhibition on the railing outside the Campus Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the university’s historic sites, highlights the theme “Université Architecte” (Architect University). It is both a celebration of space and a reflection on how academic institutions shape, preserve, and reinterpret the city around them.
The anniversary year has been framed as a moment of architectural reflection. From the Left Bank to the northern arrondissements, Université Paris Cité’s many campuses (highlighted on the map in the exhibition signage) reveal the way knowledge and architecture intertwine.
The photography on display captures the soul of Parisian academic architecture, such as grand lecture halls, quiet courtyards, intricate stonework, and the modern insertions that bridge tradition with innovation. Each photograph offers a dialogue between past and future: the heritage of Haussmann’s Paris meeting the evolving landscapes of 21st-century learning.
The exhibition isn’t just about buildings: it’s about perspective. It invites viewers to notice the geometry of a window, the rhythm of columns, and the play of light on ancient walls. Much like the students who pass through these campuses, the city itself becomes both subject and teacher.
In celebrating five years, Université Paris Cité positions itself as more than an academic institution: it becomes a curator of culture and the springboard for architect of the future. The exhibition shows that Paris as a city is not static, but constantly being studied, reframed, and reimagined.
The ”Architect University” exhibition has 140 photographs (patrimoines immobilier, mobilier et artistique) showing the architectural, interior, exterior, and artistic heritage of the University’s many campuses and sites. It is on display from 17 June to 19 November 2025 at the Campus Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It’s a free traveling exhibition (exposition itinérante) moving between sites and campuses throughout the year.
The exhibition was first shown at the Bibliothèque des Grands Moulins. The current exhibition site is the railing of the Campus Saint-Germain-des-Prés at 45 rue des Saints-Pères, and it will continue to travel to more of its 28 sites and campuses.
