From 24 September 2016 to 29 January 2017, the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design in Bordeaux (madd) will host an exhibition displaying more than 300 pieces from the Fonds national d’art contemporain, the National Contemporary Art Collection, and organized by the Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap). This collection, one of the largest in Europe, contains some of the most significant works of contemporary designers, French and international alike.

This project is an opportunity to display pieces of furniture and other objects the context which was originally theirs: a domestic world. The exhibition will thus be held in two venues, two extraordinary houses. The first one, the Hôtel de Lalande, built in the 18th century, which still has its original wooden panelling and parquet flooring, is listed as a UNESCO heritage jewel and houses the musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design in Bordeaux. The other is a fine example of contemporary and private architecture, emblematic of a modern dwelling which re-invents the relations between exterior and interior, between space and function, and between property and furniture, just a stone’s throw from Bordeaux’s city centre.