Onde et Lumiere

In 2025, we were invited, among 5 other design studios, to create a Monument des Champions for the City of Paris, a long lasting installation on the Pont Saint-Louis, dedicates to highlight the medalists of the Paris Games 2024.

At the crossroads of sport and city, our proposal is inspired first and foremost by movement —that of the athletes, the crowd, the Seine— to embody the collective dynamic that ran through the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In this sense, the wave represents both the idea of the athletes' progress and determination born of permanence and regularity, and the "ola", a human wave made of invisible relays which celebrates a shared momentum and the power of the collective.

Unfolding like a sculptural line along the balustrades, the wave is intrinsically kinetic: it comes alive through the motion of passers-by, vibrating with light, wind and shifting perspectives. The design draws inspiration from the bridge's diamond-shaped structure, using rhythm and symmetry to create multiple perceptions of the wave depending on one's path across.

The names of the medalists are inscribed along the handrails —not as a monumental engravings, but as a delicate breath in the material, discreet and readible. Implemented as a graft, our installation can also be completely dismantled, giving back the bridge in its initial state (as no modification, drilling or welding are required on the existing structure). The project "Onde et Lumière" is a suspended tribute above the Seine, a poetic journey that celebrates sport, memory and the invisible force which unites people through moments of collective emotion.

— Status: competition — finalist
— Team: Different De Architecture, Mathilde Maillet (intern)