Discover Paris-CDG Terminal 1 - Paris Aéroport Experiences

Step 1 15min

Archisable, a poetic reference to Paul Andreu

As you enter the Terminal 1, you are part of history. The history of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, but also the history of architecture, the Brutalist artistic movement and a renowned builder: Paul Andreu.

The photographic exhibition Archisable covers the entire height of the large pillars in the Departures area. And because sand, the raw material of concrete, is a founding material of Terminal 1, the exhibition is a poetic nod to Paul Andreu and his iconic terminal! Throughout, you will be able to appreciate the fruit of the ephemeral work of some sixty renowned architects, invited by the author Tina Bloch to the beach of Deauville to build works with sand, sea water and tools such as the shovel, the bucket and the rake… The result is amazing: large-format photographs of 5 works produced by great names in architecture: Much Untertrifaller, Jacques Rougerie, Bernard Desmoulin, Charles-Henri Tachon and Hugh Dutton. A journey before the journey full of reverie and imagination!

Exposition Archisable Terminal 1 Paris-CDG

Step 2 5min

The journey at the end of the tunnel

The main point of this cement fortress, the tubes of escalators linking the various satellites, are emblematic of Terminal 1. A 7-pointed star, the gateway to a universe, indeed a galaxy, of airports. Designed by Paul Andreu with the very functional idea of making the route, flow, accessibility, etc., more fluid, these tubes are marked out with the allegorical intention of light: one only goes up and never goes down. The central well that draws in this light is surrounded by these opaque tubes from which the planes emerge at the end. The journey is definitely at the end of the tunnel!

Les escalators en tubes du Terminal 1 à Paris-CDG

Step 3 10min

The Paris Tour

Enjoy the exhibition of the French photographer and visual artist, Jean-François Rauzier. By using juxtaposition and duplication of photographs and images, he reproduces the human vision as faithfully as possible by generating a real digital puzzle whose pieces are cut out, or even “redrawn”, as he goes along and according to his artist’s imagination. By this process, which he calls hyperphotography, his exhibition, from the series La Ballade de Paris (The Paris Tour), will offer you a successive discovery of reproductions of Parisian monuments and elements of architecture, in a shifted and surrealist way.

Step 4 30min to 1h

A Moveable Feast

Welcome to the world of the new Parisian airport hospitality brand: Extime. The new departure lounge, the highlight of the new Terminal 1 connecting building, welcomes you as if you were in a 5-star hotel. Here, time is frozen and everything is well-being, luxury and a call to travel.

Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s short stories, A Moveable Feast, the room’s design brings you straight back into history: that of early 20th century Paris, from the Belle Epoque to the Roaring Twenties!

Admire the backlit canework above the benches, a nod to the Orient Express and therefore to travel; take the time to look over your heads at the masterful lighting fixtures that recall the fireworks and the party spirit of those years.

Here, every element is in its place and every place has its element. All the materials are durable, notable and luxurious… just for your eyes: green Guatemalan marble, omnipresent hammered brass reminiscent of the Parisian bistros of the early 20th century, soft leather for the seats, sipo wood from Central Africa, stained like mahogany, mirror-polished stainless steel armrests, avonite panelling, etc.

Seating areas are hybrid: straight or curved benches, small sofas, reclining seats, Ottoman chairs, high work tables, bench-tablets with a modesty screen for more privacy…

And cherry on the plane: a hostess who welcomes you and guides you as you take off!