183
Public Spaces
L&L Luce&Light
182
L&L Luce&Light
Jardins de L‘Arche
Location
Paris, France
Application
Paths and steps
Project
AWP
Light planning
8’18’’
Jardins de l’Arche is an urban space to the west of Paris, the fruit of
an urban regeneration project by the architectural firm AWP aimed
at creating a genuine interchange between the famous business
district of La Défense and the adjacent municipality of Nanterre.
The new neighbourhood covers an area of 15 hectares and is intended
as a cultural and entertainment hub. It features a 600-metre, fully
pedestrian promenade that stretches from La Grande Arche, symbol
of La Défense, to the terraces of Nanterre, a sports arena that can
hold up to 40,000 spectators, and to areas intended for commercial,
administrative, school and hospitality buildings.
The French lighting design studio 8’18’’ was responsible for lighting
this new public space, and, for the pedestrian promenade, chose
Rio 2 linear profiles, in two alternating bespoke lengths of 892 mm
and 1198 mm. Recessed into the pavement perpendicularly to the
boulevard, these profiles with diffuse optics serve to visually unify
the entire promenade, render it visible from a significant distance
and give it dynamism.
