The Pré Catelan headquarters of Casa Italia at the next Paris Games in 2024

The decision to transform the Pré Catelan into the headquarters of Casa Italia for the upcoming Paris 2024 Games is a celebration of the Olympic spirit. Immersed in the Bois de Boulogne wood, in the 16th arrondissement of the French capital, the Napoleon III-style pavilion is a emblematic place for the history of the five circles. In its elegant rooms on the evening of 1894, Baron Pierre de Coubertin celebrated the project to revive the ancient Games at the Sorbonne University, on the occasion of the first Olympic Congress during which the Comité International Olympique was founded.

The announcement came today during a press conference held at the Italian Embassy in Paris, at the end of which the president of Coni, Giovani Malagò, signed the construction project with Olivier Voarick, CEO of Maison Lenotre, a company that owns the Pre-Catelan. “You’ve made a dream come true for us too, we’re really excited,” said Voarick.

«I came to Paris several times to make site inspections, we saw various places but I immediately thought that Pré Catelan was not only the best place for Casa Italia, but ‘the’ place», said Malagò, emphasizing the «romantic history » linking the place «with antiquity». The concept behind Casa Italia Parigi 2024 is summed up in one word: Ensemble (Together, in Italian). A principle underlying the sporting spirit, based on sharing and the community, but also on new challenges such as environmental and social sustainability. Casa Italia will decline this idea through art, design and architecture in setting up the structure.

“We will be a point of reference for the world”, guaranteed Malagò, after recalling the “surreal context” of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games caused by the coronavirus crisis. Even on that occasion, Coni had decided to set up Casa Italia, which had now become a “registered brand” after Los Angeles 1994.

Also present at the event was Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Foundation of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games which will be held exactly in a thousand days. «The opening ceremony is on February 6, 2026. There is a timetable. And we will be ready to go,” he said during the press conference.