The temporary artwork L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris) was on view in Paris in October 2021, following a major exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou in 2020, retracing the years of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the city. The supporting substructure for this work of art meets the requirements of monument protection.
schlaich bergermann partner developed the structural concept for the art installation at The Arc de Triomphe, which aims to fix the silvery blue, recyclable polypropylene fabric and the red ropes and secure them against wind loads. To this end, a substructure of steel trusses and a ring of pre-stressed steel cables was designed.
The specifications for the supporting structure resulted from the artist’s ideas, which he developed in various drawings. As requested by the monument preservation authorities, as few permanent changes as possible, such as drilling holes, were to be made to the Parisian landmark. The basic planning included a precise measurement of the structure and the set-up of a digital model, which was used as the basis for the design process. During construction design, ready to build details that met all the requirements were developed in close cooperation with the construction company. For this purpose, a partial mock-up of The Arc de Triomphe on a scale of 1:2 was built in a Parisian suburb.
L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped ran from September 18th to October 3rd, 2021.
