About us

The Cité du design – Saint-Étienne Higher School of Art and Design is a public establishment for cultural cooperation in charge of training tomorrow’s designers and providing a cultural offering in the Cité du design quarter aimed at every type of audience to anchor design at the heart of society thanks to its cultural dissemination activities (exhibitions, events, publications, etc.)

Teaching and research Discovery and experimentation International Network The Cité du design quarter

Par Raphaël Pigeat

The EPCC Cité du design – Ésad Saint-Étienne is a place of teaching and research, discovery and experimentation, and a resource centre for both designers and businesses. It is supported by the City of Saint-Étienne and Saint-Étienne Métropole, with the backing of the French Government and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region.

Teaching and research

Saint-Étienne Higher School of Art and Design (Ésad Saint-Étienne) teaches art and design to nearly 400 French and foreign students, from preparatory classes to postgraduate courses. Its pedagogy is nourished by the highest level of academic research.

Ésad Saint-Étienne Cursus Research

Workshop at Saint-Étienne College of Art and Design © S.Binoux

Discovery and experimentation

Through the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, thematic exhibitions, conferences and publishing activities, the Cité du design promotes design, stimulates curiosity for the contemporary world and facilitates experimentation for everyone, from expert to amateur.

The 2025 Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne

International Network

The Ésad Saint-Étienne and Cité du design teams are developing a network of contacts with numerous partners, from local to international level. The expertise, activities and international partnerships of the establishment contributed to the nomination of Saint-Étienne as a UNESCO City of Design in 2010.

Saint-Étienne, UNESCO City of Design

UNESCO Creative Cities of Design Network

The Cité du design quarter

Cité du design, Saint-Étienne Métropole © Buttrfly Illustrations

Forming a link between industrial heritage and contemporary creation, the Cité du design is at the heart of Saint-Étienne’s DNA. A place that involves a wide variety of actors, it is currently in the midst of a major transformation at the instigation of Saint-Étienne Métropole, which will see it become France’s first design quarter in the heart of the country’s only UNESCO Creative Design City. This project will turn the quarter into a sustainable, lively, accessible space where culture, innovation, education and business all come together and design stimulates creativity on every street corner.

More open to the city, greener and more convivial, the Cité du design will also have a strong tourist and cultural appeal. A rich programme of events, hotels and restaurants and art and design installations in the public space will prolong the spirit of the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne for visitors throughout the year. In addition to La Cabane, the quarter’s cultural offering will be centred on several complementary venues and events, either existing (La Platine, Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne) or forthcoming (Galerie Nationale du Design).

More information

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