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AFR5-7 April 2019The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com

L6 Life&Leisure

DESIGN PARIS

Fountains of lightBrothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have made their markon the Champs-Elysees in spectacular fashion, writes Stephen Todd.

Above: a craftsmanworks on acomponent at theSwarovski workshopin Austria. Left:Ronan Bouroullechandles a bespoke-cut crystal element.

Above: two of the sixfountains on theChamps-Elysees,looking toward theArc de Ttriomphe.Right: Erwan andRonan Bouroullecwith a prototype.Below: NadjaSwarovski.

The project combinesmore than 5360 piecesassembled by some250 men and womenacross 35 workshopsin France and Austria.

The Champs-Elysees is the main artery ofParis and the pulse point for measuring thecity’s mood – elation and triumph, angerand despair, all are registered here. It’sdown the two kilometres of this “mostbeautiful avenue in the world” that Germantroops paraded after the fall of France in1940, to be followed by American forcesmarking the Allied liberation four yearslater. It’s where the Tour de France finishesevery July, last year’s World Cup victory wasfeted and Jean Seberg shall forever hawkthe “New York Herald Tribune, New YorkHerald Tribune!” in Jean-Luc Godard’sclassic 1960 film, Breathless.

Since mid-November, les Champs (“theFields”), as they are locally known, havebeen the stage for violent weekly protests by‘‘Yellow Jackets’’ denouncing the wideninggap between the Parisian elite and peoplestruggling in the regions.

It’s perhaps not the most propitiousmoment to install a new €6.3 million($10 million) fountain strung with garlandsof bespoke Swarovski crystal. But fordesigner Ronan Bouroullec, “to be able toinscribe a new work on this avenue which isso often the place the French come toexpress their anger and their joy, is anincredible opportunity’’.

Ronan, who in partnership with hisbrother Erwan helms arguably the mostimportant French design studio workingtoday, spent three years developing theproject that was unveiled last month. Whileconceived as a single work, the ‘‘fountain’’ iscomposed of six identical fountains arrayedaround the historical Rond-Point(roundabout) of the Champs-Elysees,roughly halfway between the Place de laConcorde and the Arc de Triomphe.

Each fountain comprises three angledtubes – made of luminous, interlockingcrystal segments – suspended four metresabove the ground from a central bronzemast 13 metres high. Water pumped upthrough the mast pours down the tubes intothe ponds below in clear, streaming jets –dignified, even stoic on a calm day;billowing dramatically when it’s blustery.

Rotating on their axes at the rate of half around per minute (that is, almostimperceptibly), the chunky crystalcomponents glint discreetly. At night,illuminated from within, they emanate agentle glimmer.

“It’s almost like a mirage,” says Ronan.“We wanted something that would beimposing, but also delicate. We had to takeinto account the historical context but alsocreate something of its time. ”

We’re seated at the Bouroullecs’

headquarters in the working-class 10tharrondissement, far from the glitz andglamour of the Champs-Elysees. WhileErwan, the younger of the siblings, isevaluating prototypes at a nearby table,Ronan, the more gregarious of the pair,explains their process.

“The Champs-Elysees is not a place eitherErwan or I exactly spend a lot of timestrolling about, so we began to visit atvarious times of the day to see how peopleuse the area. We also needed to go reallydeep into the research, to understand thehistory and significance of the place.’’

They delved back to the 17th century,when Louis XIV ordered his landscapearchitect Andre Le Notre (the mastermindbehind the gardens of Versailles) to create agrand promenade, extending the gardens ofthe Tuileries from the Louvre Palace towhat is now the Rond-Point.

That avenue was extended further afterNapoleon I commissioned the Arc deTriomphe in 1806 to celebrate victory in theBattle of Austerlitz and commemoratehis troops.

WhenBaronGeorges-EugeneHaussmannredesignedthe entirecity inthelatterhalfof the 19thcentury,hetransformedtheRond-Point into anelegantroundaboutthat includedthe first incarnationofsixperipheral fountains.Theymarkedatransitionintheascent of lesChamps fromtheTuileriestowhat wasfastbecomingthemostbustlingof fashionableavenues.

In the 1930s the fountains wereornamented with art deco squirrels and

birds created by master glass craftsmanRene Lalique; these were replaced in the ’50s by more robust fittings that endureduntil 1998, when crowds of soccer fanscelebrating France’s World Cup win provedeven more robust. The fountains were left inan advanced state of disrepair, which is howthey remained until now.

As glaringly contemporary as they are,the Bouroullec fountains have their sourcein the rich and turbulent history of Paris. “Itwas important to express this continuity, inparticular with Lalique’s beautiful glasswork,” says Ronan. “To create something atonce tough, monumental and romantic.”He notes that their crystal designs have beenstress-tested to endure “harsh winds andother disturbing elements”.

That the fonts terminate four metresabove the ground is not just for aestheticreasons. The fountains, Ronan points out,are higher than the regulation lamp postsbut shorter than the trees (which each yearare trimmed to the same height). “We had tomake life-size models in aluminium to bereally certain of the dimensions. We’d beentempted to make the fountains 20 metreshigh but realised that would be over-scaled.As they are, they create a harmony withtheir surroundings.”

The project combines more than 5360pieces assembled by some 250 men andwomen in more than 35 workshops acrossFrance and Austria. (“It’s a process based ona collective intelligence,” Ronan says.)

Commissioned by mayor Anne Hidalgo,they are part of an ambitiousredevelopment of the Champs-Elysees,financed primarily by businesses withinterests along the avenue. GaleriesLafayette, one of the donors, opened a storethere last week. Dassault Aviation has alsocontributed since its HQ sits on the Rond-Point. The Qatari sovereign fund chipped intoo: the owner of the celebrated Paris-SaintGermain soccer club holds real estate –most prominently, the PSG flagship – alongthe Champs-Elysees.

Ronan Bouroullec was born in Quimper,Brittany, in 1971 and studied at the EcoleNationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris whilehis younger brother Erwan went to theEcole des Beaux-Arts of Cergy Pontoise. Thepair has worked together since 1999,designing critically acclaimed andcommercially successful collections forprestigious brands including Cappellini,Magis, Samsung and Vitra. They’ve beencommissioned to design furniture forFrancois Pinault’s private museum near LesHalles, due to open this year, and havedesigned works for public spaces includinga cloudlike canopy in the Miami DesignDistrict and park benches in Copenhagen.

Theywerethefirstcontemporarydesignerstobeinvited tocreateapieceforpermanent installationat theChateaudeVersailles.Thatchandelier isalsoconstructedfrombespokeSwarovskicrystalcomponentsandcan beconsideredtheprogenitorof theChamps-Elysees fountains.

“As with the Versailles project, these sixfountains represented an incredibletechnical challenge,” says Nadja Swarovski,member of the executive board.

“Realising Ronan and Erwan’s amazingdesign truly pushed the limits of innovation.Our master cutters and engineers workedfor over a year to develop the bespokecrystal cut and we designed a patented newcomponent that allows us to install thecrystal outdoors and resist theenvironment. We are delighted with thestunning result.”

And, so it seems, is most of Paris – footand car traffic has increased exponentiallysince the unveiling of the fountains. LeMonde newspaper called them “six joyousand surprising objects” reflecting “the lightsof the city and the flash of selfies inaction’’. L&L