Château Éphémère

After years of lying abandoned and unused, the Château Vanderbilt is being given a new lease of life. This stately home in Carrières-sous-Poissy belonged to a rich American baron, William K. Vanderbilt, and after three years of negotiations and building work, it has opened as a centre for digital art. The association Caserne Éphémère, which transforms abandoned sites into imaginative artistic spaces, has been instrumental in recreating the Château into a ‘digital and sound factory’. So what’s that when it’s at home? If you’re imagining shades of the Gaïte Lyrique, you’re on the right track. It’s a theme park for art and culture lovers, filled with every possible type of facility for making art: dance and theatre studios, music recording studios, writer’s workshops and art ateliers fill up three floors, with the central ‘FabLab’ dedicated to digital technology and art. The idea is for it to become a social hub for professional artists and public alike to use the facilities and engage with each other. From September, the site’s own bar-restaurant will open, with an outdoor terrace that sits on the fringes of a beautiful 6000m2 park.