The first museum dedicated to alternative energy in Paris!
The Rétrofutur Museum’s mission is to catalogue and share forgotten inventions.
It is time to draw on the energy inventions of the past to build a liveable, user-friendly and sustainable present. Are you ready to dive into the retrofuture of energy?
Are you a school, a company, a local community or simply a tourist?
Contact us and come visit us during the week at
5 allée Paris-Ivry in the 13th arrondissement of Paris!
hello@paleo-energetique.org
The first museum where visitors must generate energy to light up the museum!
This citizen-led, low-tech, participatory museum is the result of a collective effort rooted in the Paleo-Energetique.org research programme launched by Atelier 21 in 2015. It (re)highlights forgotten knowledge and, in the second part of the museum inaugurated in 2025, brings it into dialogue with contemporary creations from the fields of design, engineering and art. The aim is to develop new avenues for research and innovation with a view to transition. These examples demonstrate the need for these techniques and practices to meet today’s challenges of sobriety, circularity and appropriation.
Tackling the issues of resilience, precariousness and energy autonomy head-on, we have devised an immersive experience that involves visitors in the running of the museum by producing the necessary energy locally.
The museum as a base for a travelling exhibition: get the exhibition to come to you!
Our mission is to share this knowledge and showcase these projects to as wide an audience as possible. We have already moved part of the collection to museums and public institutions, but we are also targeting schools and other cultural venues!
The extension — designed in two refurbished containers — was co-created with Julien Benayoun & William Boujon (bold-design), in collaboration with a constellation of designers and collectives committed to energy efficiency:
Schneider Electric (Mobiya), SOLAR BROTHER, Super Solide, Lorraine Bonduelle, Camille Ferrer & Victoire Lesthevenon Lapaire, Engpiplard, Gaspar Defaye, RegenBox, James Auger, Jean Dard, Nicolas Hervé, and Atelier 21.
This project would not have been possible without the support and commitment of our partners:
Semapa, Plateau Urbain, Mairie du 13e Arrondissement de Paris, Ernest Solvay, PlanetSolar Foundation, ENGIE, Région Île-de-France, and all our everyday partners, including the Schneider Electric Foundation, which has been supporting the development of our projects for several years.
