Palace of Festivals and Congresses of Cannes

The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès features a distinctive, sprawling concrete facade interrupted by wide red-carpeted steps that climb toward its main entrance. Before this structure occupied the site in nineteen eighty-two, the city held its famous film festival in an older building nearby that lacked enough space for the growing crowds. Architects Sirven and Druet designed this brutalist replacement to host massive international events, replacing a municipal casino that stood on this exact strip of Mediterranean sand.