The premises

Since November 2013 the Paris Institute for Advanced Studies is located in an outstanding historical site that the City of Paris has dedicated to the promotion of the humanities and social sciences: the hôtel de Lauzun. A 17th Century “hôtel particulier”, built between 1656 and 1660, it retains much of its rich interior decoration.

The mansion has housed historical personalities, such as the controversial duke who has left it his name, but also famous artists and writers like Joseph Ferdinand Boissard of Boisdenier, Théophile Gautier, or Charles Baudelaire. During their stay in the 1840s, the salons of the hôtel de Lauzun, then known as hôtel Pimodan, were regularly devoted to the very private parties of the Haschichins club, in which artists and personalities from the time experienced "Artificial paradises".

 
Thanks to Baron Jérôme Pichon, a great lover of art objects who sheltered his collections there, and especially his nephew, Louis, the hôtel de Lauzun was largely restored between the middle of the 19th century and the 1920s. It has belonged since 1928 to the City of Paris, which launched in 2012 considerable renovation works to host the Paris IAS.

 

This unique architectural ensemble combines heritage rooms of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries with modernized functional spaces - offices, meeting rooms, workspaces, library - which make it an exceptional workplace for the fellows of the Institute.