Bains Douches reconfiguration in Sète, France, Digi Mart USA News (Sète, France): The Bains Douches continue their transformation on Place Victor-Hugo. After several months of reconfiguration work, the exterior has nearly regained its character.
The interior is still being transformed to host, eventually, a large cultural and artistic space designed by artist Jean-Michel Othoniel, creator of the neighboring “Fontaine aux fleurs mouvantes.”
A sign that the project is nearing completion, the City of Sète will co-organize a press conference on December 2 in Jean-Michel Othoniel’s studios, on the outskirts of Montreuil in the Paris region. The venue, housed in former industrial halls in Eiffel style, is intended to draw the attention of the Parisian press.
For Sète, the image stakes surrounding the Bains Douches are national in scope.
“We are talking about a rare object in the national artistic and cultural world,” said Fabrice Manuel, director of cultural affairs for the City of Sète. “In France, I do not see an equivalent to this reconfiguration of the Bains Douches.
This is really a building transformed by an artist. We are going to enter an immersive work of art.
It is a true singularity.”
Another argument of national significance concerns funding. The national jury for public commissions, meeting at the Ministry of Culture, awarded 386,000 euros to the municipality, one of the highest allocations in France for this program.
This suggests that, within a few months, nationally prominent figures such as ministers and artists could attend the inauguration.
The inauguration, initially announced for the end of the year, is now planned for March 2027, and no earlier. On site, the complex has kept its neoclassical style with Byzantine inspiration and may give the impression that construction is nearly finished.
In reality, considerable interior work remains. The ground floor will be dedicated to Jean-Michel Othoniel’s universe.
The forecourt also must be completed, and the building is still to receive spherical glass elements from Murano.
Already installed stained-glass windows are backlit “to bring the square to life at night and inhabit the city through art,” Fabrice Manuel said. As previously mentioned, on the upper floor, accessible by elevator like a lookout, an intimate space opening onto a panoramic terrace will serve as an outpost of the Paul-Valéry museum.
“This will be an extension, just as these Bains Douches fit into the artistic continuity of previous projects, beginning with the Théâtre Molière, Place Victor-Hugo and the Michèle-Weil complex. Together they will form a coherent whole,” Fabrice Manuel said, expressing eagerness to see the reconfiguration completed.
