Cité Universitaire

Cité U 's eclectic campus houses around 5000 foreign university students, researchers, artists and trainees of around 132 different nationalities.  Spread over 34-hectares of wooded grounds 37 houses, foundations or colleges, each with its own distinctive architecture and personality serve as halls of residence. 

Look out for the Fondation Suisse, designed by Le Corbusier in 1933, the Dutch house by Willem Marinus Dudock, the monastery inspired design of the Maison Arménienne and the pagoda-shaped roofs of the Maison du Japon.

The idea behind the project which began in the 1920s, was the mixing of cultures and promotion of peace and tolerance.  For information on their residency programme check out our post in the professional artist's section.

Cité Universitaire
Boulevard Jourdan
75014 Paris
RER Cité Universitaire

Comments

[Lisa B.]

Hello to all...I was awarded a 3-month artist in residency at Cite Universitaire (November 2008-January 2009.) I was notified in July, and I was so excited!I received lovely photos of my room, my studio, etc. I signed and returned my rental contract, the amount of which was a little more than the rate listed in their literature, but I figured hey, inflation affects us all. The extra I was to pay was no problem, as I was really looking forward to coming to Paris for 12 weeks of research/artmaking, great food, galleries, just Parisian life in general...

A week or so later, I received a letter from someone at Cite Universitaire who I'd never heard of (all previous correspondence had been with Delphine Moreau)informing me in no uncertain terms, that the cost for my studio would be significantly higher than stated in my contract, and that furthermore, it was due to them in within the next few weeks (it had previously been due upon my arrival). I wrote back, referring to my signed contract, and also wrote to Miss Moreau, to apprise her of the situation.
I received another terse letter from the same person, informing me that because I was over 30 years of age, I was liable for the higher rate. I forwarded this note to Miss Moreau, requesting that she please intercede on my behalf...I never heard from anyone at Cite Universitaire again.

A sad story, no? I was most hurt by the fact that my age was listed on my application, that the rental fees being dependent upon age wasn't stated anywhere in their literature, and that they weren't willing to honor my contract, as this was clearly a case of the oversight being on their part. It's possible that they changed their decision and preferred to offer the opportunity to another artist, maybe this was their way of facilitating that change?

I'll probably never know! But I remain excited about applying for other residencies in France and know that if I was selected once, it can happen again!And I hope Cite Universitaire will be nicer to artists.

[Dimitri]

I'm not surprised, the Cite Universitaire is a very strange beast. In a recent edition of one of France's foremost art magazine "Beaux Arts" the editor decries the very lack of any good art schools in France. The Cite Universitaire does its best cover-up, mitigating France's lackluster academic system with their own impish bureaucratic acrobatics. Residence there is in such high-demand and nobody complains once admitted. You'll notice as well that the Cite doesn't do much to promote much community participation, nor does it have much to say about its residents. You have to be pretty, young, lucky, or spend a fair amount of time on your knees to get in. Once you're there you can really live out the bubble life. I've seen the kind of people who are admitted and believe me, you're not missing out on much. Like so many things in Paris and the rest of the world...the Cite provides a lovely veneer yet there is a very real lack of substance beneath. The day the Cite lives up to everything it has to offer, I'll eat my words, but having lived in paris for nearly four years, I haven't seen much come in or out of those hallowed gates to rave about.