If the heatwaves that scorched southern Europe this summer are any indication, visitors to Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics could be in for some serious sizzle. How will the crowds stay cool if next summer is anything like the last?
Some, at least, could find relief in shade shelters crafted with materials repurposed from L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, a public art installation by late avant-garde artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Their project saw the famous Parisian monument shrouded in about 270,000 square feet of shimmering silver-blue fabric held in place with almost 9,845 feet of red rope.
The textile and rope, both made of polypropylene, a recyclable thermoplastic polymer, are being reborn as large-scale tents for the Olympics and other public events in and around Paris.
“This is a very fine example of the art world’s ability to adapt to climate challenges,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a statement shared by global environmental organization Parley for the Oceans, a partner in the recycling effort.
July set historic temperature records across the U.S., Europe and China, with researchers saying the punishing heat would have been “virtually impossible” without human-driven climate change. Paris topped 95 degrees Fahrenheit as recently as September 9, and officials there are already keeping close watch on weather trends ahead of next year’s Olympics.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, a husband and wife team, frequently reused, recycled and upcycled materials, including the reams of rope and fabric that encased Berlin’s Reichstag in 1995 for another of their wrapped-building projects, Wrapped Reichstag.
Carpenters and steel producers have already reclaimed wood and steel from L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, according to Parley for the Oceans, which has taken charge of giving the fabric and rope new life. A Parley representative says the group doesn’t yet know how many tents will result from the recycling effort, or how big they’ll be.
French military commander and political leader Napoléon Bonaparte commissioned the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe in 1806 following his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. The arch honors French military achievements.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude first conceived of wrapping the triumphal structure in fabric in 1961, when Christo lived near the emblematic monument—and became fascinated with it. But it took decades for the pair’s vision to materialize on the west end of the Champs-Élysée. Finished after Christo’s death in 2020 at 84 (Jean-Claude died in 2009), the installation opened for public viewing for 16 days in September 2021, and was seen 6 million times in person, according to Parley for the Oceans.
Visiting the site two years ago, “I saw a flag of rebellion, an encouragement that seemingly impossible ideas can become a reality, if we pursue them without bending, without giving up and by staying positive and optimistic,” designer Cyrill Gutsch, CEO and founder of Parley for the Oceans, said in a statement.
Not everyone had such an enthusiastic response–one French politician called the covered monument a “garbage bag on the Arc de Triomphe.”
Eyesore or eye candy, L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped will live on, hopefully wrapping overheated Olympics spectators in a welcome cloak of cool.
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