Aubette, Arts centre at Place Kléber, Strasbourg, France

The Aubette is a building at Place Kléber in Strasbourg that combines a neoclassical exterior with innovative interior design. It houses a cultural center with a theater, gallery, and café where architectural layers from different periods overlap within the same structure.

L'Aubette grew out of a 13th-century monastic complex, mostly collapsed in the 16th century, whose remains served military purposes. Jacques-François Blondel rebuilt it on the Place Kléber from 1765 to 1778 as part of his plan for a Place d'Armes, and it housed a garrison and guard post. On 24 August 1870 a fire left only the facade; Jean Geoffroy Conrath rebuilt it from 1873, adding a slate mansard roof and musician medallions, finished in 1877.

The three artists Theo van Doesburg, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Jean Arp transformed the interior in 1926 with geometric art compositions. Their work created a complete artistic environment where colors and shapes follow modernist principles throughout the rooms.

The Aubette closes the north side of Place Kléber, the central square, and is reached on foot from the tram stops around it. The building is open to the public with free admission. The 1928 interiors by van Doesburg, Taeuber-Arp and Arp are shown as the museum "Aubette 1928"; the cinema and staircase were listed in 1985, the ballroom and foyer-bar in 1989.

The geometric patterns and colors were designed so they create different sensations in each room depending on how light and space combine. This creates surprising spatial variety in a compact area and shows how color and form change how we perceive a place.