Le Lieu unique, Contemporary cultural center in Nantes, France.
Le Lieu unique occupies the surviving north part of the LU biscuit factory on Quai Ferdinand-Favre, beside the Saint-Félix canal. The 1895 building is entirely of concrete and metal; its one remaining corner tower, added in 1909 by Auguste Bluysen, rises in tiers to a blue dome with a red finial. Patrick Bouchain renovated the interior from 1998, keeping the industrial shell.
The building was designed by architect Auguste Bluysen in 1895 and operated as the Lefèvre-Utile biscuit factory until production relocated from the city center in 1986. Following this closure, restoration work beginning in 1998 transformed the facility into a contemporary arts center.
The name LU comes from the initials of biscuit maker Lefèvre-Utile, and the centre keeps them. Its programme spans visual arts, theatre, dance, circus, music, literature, philosophy and digital culture, with festivals such as Les Rencontres de Sophie and Les Géopolitiques de Nantes. A café-bar-club, restaurant, reading room and crèche share the building with the stages.
Entrances are on Quai Ferdinand-Favre and Quai Malakoff; the pedestrianised Quai Ferdinand-Favre forms a terrace with old plane trees above the Saint-Félix canal. The west facade on Avenue Carnot is blind, and the service entrance is on Rue de la Biscuiterie. The Château des ducs de Bretagne, the cathedral and the SNCF station all lie within 500 metres.
A translucent double wall in the attic holds the "Grenier du Siècle": 16,000 personal objects deposited by the public between 1 October and 31 December 1999, sealed in cans. The wall, designed by artist Patrick Raynaud, is to be opened on 1 January 2100 at exactly 5 p.m.
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