PARIS — Organizers of Paris Design Week 2026 have announced that the exhibition 'TOUT EST CHAOS' at La Gaîté Lyrique will not close as scheduled but will instead become a permanent fixture of the city, with visitors now required to sign a waiver acknowledging that they will never again encounter a clearly labeled object. The waiver, a single sentence printed on a steel plate, states: «I accept that nothing here will ever be explained.»
Curator Christopher Dessus said the decision was made after visitors spent an average of four hours wandering the two floors, repeatedly asking staff what things were for. «We realized the question itself was the problem,» Dessus said. «So we removed all staff. Now the building answers only to chaos.» The exhibition's two 30-meter metal spines have been extended through the lobby and into the street, where they now support a rotating selection of prototypes that pedestrians are legally required to ignore.
Pli Office has also announced that the 64 designers selected through the open call will remain on site indefinitely, living in the raw steel framework and producing new work only when they feel doubt. A spokesperson for the studio confirmed that the heart-shaped forms scattered throughout the venue have been reclassified as «emotional infrastructure» and will be maintained by the city at public expense. «We are not solving problems anymore,» the spokesperson said. «We are provoking them, permanently.»
By next week, the 360 Room will begin screening Pli Office's film on a continuous loop, with no scheduled end. Visitors who attempt to leave before the loop concludes will be gently redirected by a volunteer holding a heart-shaped sign that reads «Stay.»