Last straight line for the packaging of the Triomphe Arc in Paris

Plusieurs centaines de mètres carrés de tissu recyclable en polypropylène argent bleuté, prévu pour ondoyer au gré des éléments, ont été déroulés dimanche 12 septembre 2021 sur l’un des côtés de l’Arc de Triomphe à Paris, opération lançant la dernière ligne droite de l’empaquetage du monument parisien.

A youthful dream

From September 18 to October 3, the youth dream of Christo (who died in May 2020) and his wife Jeanne-Claude, will be realized: Haut-Lieu des Commemorations Françaises, the Arc de Triomphe, 50 meters high, will be fullytransformed into a gigantic gift package, held by 3,000 meters of red rope.In 1985, Christo had already packaged the Pont-Neuf in Paris, spanning the Seine.

After weeks of preparation, a team of 95 strings launched Sunday morning from the top of the Arc de Triomphe to deploy, on the avenue de Wagram, a first roller of fabric.

Inauguration on September 18

The packaging (25,000 m2 of fabric) will continue day and night to be ready on September 18, the day of the inauguration.

"Today, this is one of the most spectacular moments in the installation.The Camped Triomphe Arc begins to come to life and gets closer to the vision of what has constituted the dream of a lifetime for Christo and Jeanne-Claude, "said Vladimir Yavachev, the artist who supervises himproject.

"A living object that will come alive in the wind"

The packaging of the triumph arc "will be like a living object that will live in the wind and reflect the light.The folds will move, the surface of the monument to become sensual, ”explained Christo, presenting his ultimate project, two years before his death.

As early as 1962, Christo and Jeanne-Claude had signed a photomontage with the triumphant arc, an idea arose by looking at the monument from their first Parisian apartment, avenue Foch.

At a cost of 14 million euros, the project is entirely self -funded, without public subsidy, thanks to the sale of original works by Christo, preparatory drawings, memories, models and lithographs.

Saturday, in the daily Le Monde, the architect Carlo Ratti, one of Christo's friends, however called, in a column, to abandon "the aesthetics of high -waste packaging".

"I propose that we stop packing the triumphal arch, both for environmental reasons and intellectual.On the environmental level, can we allow ourselves to waste 25,000 m2 of fabric for the packaging of a monument?The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of world carbon emissions, "writes Carlo Ratti.

Solicited by AFP, Christo's nephew did not wish to react.

Source: © 2021 AFP

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