Layup Season 6: we open Terra Nova’s doors to urban art!

Terra Nova becomes a creative playground for Layup’s sixth season

Layup has gone big this year! For its sixth season, the collective is taking over Terra Nova at 22 Boulevard de la Marquette, in Toulouse’s Compans-Caffarelli district.

Overlooking the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi, Terra Nova is preparing for a major renovation, designed by architectural practices Sight and PPA. The project will transform the property into prime office space, comprehensively rethinking its internal spaces and how they are used. Before work begins, however, we wanted to give the building another life. We have made it available to Layup for eight weeks as a place for artistic creation, open to everyone.

The former office floors have been completely reimagined to accommodate the artists. Partitions have been removed to open up larger spaces, while floors, ceilings and individual rooms have been transformed in response to the artworks. Terra Nova has become an integral part of the exhibition, with its architecture directly shaping Layup’s exhibition design.

“Mondes Parallèles” takes urban art across six levels

Layup’s sixth season invites visitors to explore different artistic worlds across Terra Nova’s six levels. Each floor offers a distinctive experience, encompassing graffiti, muralism, calligraphy, post-graffiti and installations. The exhibition continues into the basement, which houses large-scale works and event spaces.

In total, 74 local, national and international artists are exhibiting at Terra Nova. Several generations of urban art meet here, from pioneers of the 1980s to today’s artists. They include Mode 2, André, Moze 156, Ceet, Tanc and members of the 9e Concept collective.

Painting, sculpture, photography, video and installations fill the former workspaces, temporarily transformed into galleries. Some works are created directly on site and will disappear when the exhibition closes on 29 November.

Art brings another dimension to our buildings

Since 2021, Layup has taken over vacant spaces and buildings in transition, turning them into places for creativity and connection. This approach reflects our vision of real estate: a building can have several lives and bring people together in unexpected ways, even as it prepares for renovation.

By handing Terra Nova’s keys to Layup, we wanted to give art a prominent place within an office building and make it accessible to as many people as possible. Seeing artists make the spaces their own and share their work with the public brings this initiative to life. The buildings we construct and renovate are also places for shared experiences. They can welcome culture and connect different audiences, continuing to tell stories between uses.

These encounters continue throughout Layup’s sixth season, with graffiti workshops, guided tours, artist discussions, late-night openings, screenings and DJ sets running until the end of November.