The Banque de France has announced the opening of the Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie during a press conference held by Governor Christian Noyer, on May 25, 2011. Its opening is programmed for the end of 2014. This educational place aims at explaining the economy and its concepts to the general public; it will be hosted in the Hotel Gaillard, located at 1, Place du General Catroux, in the 17th district in Paris.
This place will invite the general public to discover economics, to tackle issues often met in everyday life, or to allow a better understanding of worldwide events. The Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie will inter alia address teachers and their students, to help illustrate concepts studied at school. The project is launched by the Banque de France, which collaborates with several partners. Among those partners:
The Ministry of National Education supports the project and has delegated several teachers to help on the content of the Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie.
The Institut pour l'Education Financière du Public, with whom a partnership has been concluded in late 2010.
The Bibliothèque nationale de France: Governor Christian Noyer and President of the Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBruno Racine have signed a cooperation agreement on January 3, 2012, regarding the presentation of coin and banknote collections in the future Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie.
The Rencontres des SES : initiative developed by the :fr:Académie de Paris|Académie de Paris, where 11th grade students studying Economics and Social Sciences are invited to meet economists, in order to discuss themes linked to current issues.
The Little Conferences of the :fr:Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil|Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil : a partnership with the Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie was announced on February 11, 2012, during Jean-Claude Trichet 's conference on the history of money. The partnership is developed around their shared objective of increasing young people's access to knowledge.
The building
The Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie will be hosted in the Hotel Gaillard, located at 1, Place du Général Catroux, in the 17th district in Paris. This neo-gothic mansion has been realized by architect Jules Février at request of Emile Gaillard, banker from the city ofGrenoble and amateur and collector of Middle Ages and Renaissance art. The Hotel Gaillard was sold to the Banque de France in 1919. From 1919 to 1921, architectural works have been directed by architect Alphonse Defrasse for the Banque de France, especially the building of a steel structure which housed the cashier's desks and other services to the visitors. He also imagined the impressive strong room which could be accessed by a lift bridge, over two-meters-deep moats. Listed as a historic monumentin 1999, this branch closed in 2006, as a consequence of the plan to close half of the Banque de France's branches on the French territory.
The architectural contest
The project of the Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie was the object of an architectural contest. Over 100 teams of architects and museographers have participated in this contest which aimed at transforming this former branch of the Banque de France in an educational Cité, while respecting the architecture of the building which is listed as historic monument. The team of architects – museographers was selected by the Banque de France amongst the six final projects chosen by the jury of the contest. The team is made of Ateliers Lion for the architecture, François Confino for the museography, and Eric Pallot as architect in charge of historic monuments.
