This erstwhile postal sorting o ce at the station is now a versatile arts and exhibition space, a lingering legacy of Lille’s reign as European Capital of Culture.
The enduring legacy of Lille2004 was the renaissance of a tired postal sorting office at the side of the Gare Lille Flandres. The harsh state-owned railway and postal service architecture lent anonymity to the site that allowed it to be reinvented with each phase of the festival. Attracting around a quarter of a million visitors in its first season, the potential of this industrial warehousestyle shell with its mail cages and three 2,000m2 galleries was irresistible. Martine Aubry, charismatic mayor and all-round superwoman, wrested Le TriPostal from its landlords to allow it to remain open for five more years. It is still going strong more than a decade since. Shows in its first year included futuristic robots, Buckingham Palace reinvented as a council estate, and a sensual tickling machine. Since then it has highlighted gems from private collections, even a Saatchi retrospective. A key venue (and box office) for Lille3000 festivals, it also hosts special events during non-festival months and years, and is often a venue for clubbing and social events.