Once Upon a Time in Paris — The Track Arches of Gare de l’Est

As an extension of Liaison Verte project, the lighting masterplan imagined for the surface-level connection of the Tripôle des gares, Atelier dada developed, on its own initiative, a more intimate and immersive proposal: an interactive sound-and-light installation around the electrified arches of the SNCF tracks at Gare de l’Est.

The idea began with a geometry already present. Above the railway fan, the L-shaped platform-canopy structures and the electrified arches set in their continuation form a powerful, almost choreographic repetition. RGBW LED neon lines trace their undersides and perceptually connect these distinct technical elements, recomposing them as a succession of luminous trefoil arches that form a vaulted canopy above the tracks. The intervention reveals an architecture already there and transforms the way it is perceived. Their soft curves give the railway landscape a more enveloping, familiar presence.

The lighting composition formed a warm, vibrant canopy in tones inspired by sunrise and sunset. This luminous presence accompanied the rhythm of the site without erasing its railway character. The perception of the installation shifts with viewpoint and speed: from the platforms and station, the arches recede in depth; from a moving train, they become a kinetic cadence; from upper rue d’Alsace and the planted roof of the OKKO Hotel adjoining its balustrade, they are read at the scale of the railway landscape. The stone lattice bridge opens another view across the crossing.

The installation evolved with track occupancy. The arcs beneath the arched catenary gantries remained animated in rhythm with the sequence. When a train occupied a track, the lines beneath the L-shaped structure of the corresponding platform canopy lit in turn, completing the trefoil. The figure appeared and dissolved with the actual movements of the station, making track occupancy part of the luminous composition.

The sound dimension was conceived as an intimate and non-intrusive experience. The lighting sequence followed primarily one of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies. The arrival or departure of a train on a given track briefly inflected the composition before it resumed its course. Passers-by or travellers could have synchronised with this temporality through a dedicated app imagined for the project and listened on their own headphones, leaving the public space silent.

The choice of Satie was not anecdotal. A major French composer and pianist connected to Paris, Montmartre and the avant-gardes, he opened another layer of interpretation for the project. The project also drew on the luminous memory of neon, familiar to Parisian nights and reinterpreted here through LED technology. The trefoil form, familiar across architectural history, carried its own resonances: the Trinity in Christian tradition, the clover, and the popular association with good luck that it can evoke. These associations opened further layers of memory for each viewer. At the edge of the 18th arrondissement, the installation created real and imagined bridges between eras, districts and layers of collective memory. The Tripôle des gares thus acquired the depth of a cultural and sensory threshold crossed by several memories of Paris.

This proposal was presented to the City of Paris as part of the reflection on the urban connection between Gare de l’Est, Gare Magenta and Gare du Nord. Favourably received, it was intended to be forwarded to SNCF, with the intention of putting Atelier dada in contact with its representatives in view of a possible implementation.

Through this installation, Atelier dada proposed to transform a fragment of railway infrastructure into an urban score. Existing structures become the stave of a light that accompanies the rhythms of the site, receives the movement of trains and reactivates several memories of Paris. As viewpoint and speed shift, the perception of the crossing is transformed. Beneath the canopy of luminous trefoil arches, Gare de l’Est is seen anew, enveloped by an architecture of light that its own structure already held in latent form.

© MI Bouhlel / Atelier dada.

The concepts and devices presented in this project are original creations.
They may not be reproduced, adapted or transposed without the explicit consent of the author.