Les SUBS

In a remarkable heritage site on the banks of the Saône River in Lyon, the SUBS (Swiss National Museum of Contemporary Art) provides both a workspace for artists and a place for living and artistic creation open to all. The SUBS supports contemporary art by fostering a dialogue between aesthetic ambitions, amateur practices, a creative spirit, eco-sensitivity, and social and generational diversity. At the intersection of heritage and artistic creation, the SUBS celebrates the values ​​of hospitality, diversity, and innovation.

In 1640, the convent of Sainte-Marie des Chaînes was built, a convent of the Order of the Visitation, founded by Saint Francis de Sales. The Visitandine sisters settled in a small cloister along the quayside.

In 1700, the convent experienced financial difficulties, but a larger convent was nevertheless built, a new, unfinished cloister, which is the only building preserved today. In 1731, a terrace and a new floor with twelve cells were built in the cloister.
In addition to the bedrooms, there was the nuns' refectory with its original frame and ceiling, consisting of ribbed vaults, and a kitchen. It now serves as an exhibition space due to its high reverberation.

The Louis XIV staircase demonstrates the scale of the project, which had been undertaken but ultimately served only a few cells. Wanting to maximize the space, another series of rooms was built above the gallery. The grayscale is the original, corresponding to the color of the Visitandines.

During the French Revolution, the Visitandines took refuge in Annecy, and the church was demolished. The convent was made available to the army, which reclaimed the site as a camp and storage facility. It carried out work such as the construction of a large square that would be called the Sainte Marie-des-Chaines Warehouse, then the Military Warehouse. At the end of the 19th century, wheat was imported, and the army built several mills on the site.

During the First World War, due to greater demand, the construction of more ovens increased (up to 18). Today, the stone from western Lyon in various colors, the openings into the refectory, and the cornices cut to build the ovens' brick chimneys can still be seen. In 1941, the site was renamed Military Subsistence.

The bakery contained six ovens, three on each side, and six original chimneys. It has the architecture of a church, with its ribbed vaults, buttresses, and exterior arches. Today, it is converted into a performance hall with a seating capacity of 123 people, dressing rooms, and ancillary rooms.

Resembling an orangery today, the Ticket Office was once the mill's boiler room, used to produce steam and turn the millstones. The original walkways provided access from the warehouse to the mills.

The covered courtyard dates from 1870 and was built by the Eiffel School. It covers 1,500 m² and can accommodate 1,500 people. The forty years of construction of the Manutention have preserved a warehouse-style architectural unity. The windows are very regular to provide light and, more importantly, ventilation.

The army transferred the premises to the City of Lyon in 1995. The latter undertook a renovation of the premises and numerous renovations, and dedicated the site to artistic and cultural activities. The School of Fine Arts moved in there in March 2007.