After focusing on the figure of the designer, the object and young creation and featuringa rich festive programme, the 13th Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienneclosed its doors on Sunday 6 July. Almost 72,000 visitors from 48 countries enjoyedthe exhibitions and events spread over a period of six weeks on its two sites main, theCité du design and the Halles Barrouin. Individuals, families, students, professionals:this 2025 edition, which was all about renewal, forged strong links with its audiences,who were invited to take part in a sensitive exploration of design. This festive,popular Biennale reconnected with its local audience. With an ambitious programme,it strengthened the event’s national foothold and its international reach, reassertingSaint‑Étienne’s standing as a key centre for the discovery and experimentation of design.
The curtain has come down on the 13th Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, which ran from22 May to 6 July 2025 on the theme of "Resource(s),fore shadowing the future" (Ressource(s), presager demain). An edition meticulously prepared by the Cité du design teams under the guidance of General Curator, designer Éric Jourdan, Executive Director of the EPCC Cité du design-Ésad Saint-Étienne and Laurence Salmon, Scientific Director of the Biennale and Director of the design dissemination department at the Cité du design, general curator of the main themed exhibition Ressource(s), presager demain. This is not to forget the teams at Saint-Étienne Métropole who designed and organised the territorial component as well as Biennale en fête, the programme of free open-air events offered every weekend between the Cité du design and the Halles Barrouin.
Organised around 9 major exhibitions, a multi-faceted festive programme and a series of some twentytied-in exhibitions across the whole of Saint-Étienne Métropole, this 13th edition was a return to the original spirit of the Biennale, with a high-profile rolegiven to the students of the Ésad Saint-Étienne, but one that focused on renewal: a central place given to the object, the designer, young creation, redesigned facilitation aids and better accessibility, and auniquely interesting guest country, Armenia. Theoverall scenography of the Biennale by Joachim Jirou-Najou was also widely acclaimed.
The Biennale was also closely linked to the ongoing urban, cultural and economic transformation of the Cité du design quarter, and provided the opportunity to reveal the latter’s new visual identity. Designed tobe a great creative, popular, festive event, this 2025 edition brought together both professionals and the general public, confirming Saint-Étienne’s role as the capital of design in motion.
Three of this Biennale’s strongest offerings will be extended at La Platine at the Cité du design from 19 Julyto 21 September 2025, after the other exhibitions are dismantled: Qui êtes-vous Raymond Guidot ( Who areyou Raymond Guidot) which pays tribute to a major figure in French design; En relief, créer en Arménie ( InRelief, Design in Armenia), which presents objects, projects and narratives from a strong and vibrant culture ; and I hear Voices, an immersive sound installation by artist Nadia Lauro, which explores the relationshipbetween tactile sensations, voice and narration. These extensions motivated by the success of exhibitions concerned will also help to maximise the impact of the investments made and the transporting of the works, while allowing a new audience to discover them and prolonging the Biennale experience over the summer.
