Iran Cinema is one of the historic theaters on Lalehzar Street, which, like other cinemas on this avenue, has been closed for more than three decades. Recently, the cinema suffered a fire, once again drawing public concern and attention to Lalehzar—one of Tehran’s most important Art Deco streets and its forgotten cultural spaces. In light of this, we decided to revisit examples of global experiences in cinema restoration, in the hope that one day the cinemas of Lalehzar will be introduced as successful cases on the world stage.

La Pagode Cinema, Paris

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“La Pagode”
In the heart of Paris, renow­ned for its archi­tec­ture and Japanese gar­den, La Pagode is one of the capital’s most unu­sual cine­mas and his­to­ric monu­ment.
Closed since 2016, this legen­dary Parisian cinema, whose buil­ding and gar­den are lis­ted his­to­ric monu­ments, is get­ting a face­lift to once again become a mee­ting place for emo­tions open to the neigh­bou­rhood.

La Pagode – Renovation by Loci Anima

La Pagode, an archi­tec­tu­ral gem nest­led in the heart of Paris’s 7th arron­dis­se­ment, is set to be reborn under the direc­tion of the Loci Anima agency, foun­ded by Françoise Raynaud. Closed since 2015, this ico­nic cinema—renowned for its Japanese-ins­pi­red archi­tec­ture and lis­ted garden—is under­going an ambi­tious reno­va­tion aimed at pre­ser­ving its heri­tage while mee­ting contem­po­rary stan­dards.

A pro­ject balan­cing heri­tage and moder­nity
Listed as a his­to­ric monu­ment, La Pagode is a rare example of Japanese archi­tec­ture in Paris. The reno­va­tion includes the crea­tion of four scree­ning rooms, offe­ring a total of 440 seats across a 1,010 m² sur­face area. The entrance will be rede­si­gned with a glass gate­way, pro­vi­ding an unobs­truc­ted view of the building’s his­to­ric façade. The Japanese gar­den will also be res­to­red and ope­ned to the public, rein­for­cing the connec­tion bet­ween the cinema and its sur­roun­dings

A mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary team behind the pro­ject
In addi­tion to Loci Anima, the pro­ject team includes Agence Pierre Antoine Gatier, Chief Architect for Historic Monuments, ensu­ring res­pect for heri­tage conser­va­tion. Technical exper­tise is pro­vi­ded by Aedis (struc­ture), Avel (acous­tics), and Casso & Associés (fire safety). The client is the Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation.

Reopening sche­du­led for 2025
The pro­ject is expec­ted to be com­ple­ted in 2025. La Pagode aims to reclaim its role as a cultu­ral land­mark, blen­ding film scree­nings, archi­tec­tu­ral heri­tage, and conviviality—fully ali­gned with the values cham­pio­ned by Loci Anima.