New Grande Stade announced

The French Rugby Federation (FFR) has unveiled the winning design for the new French national rugby stadium. 

The ‘Grande Stade’ will be built using the designs of Populous and Ateliers 2/3/4/, and will be much more than just a rugby stadium; as well as hosting all the French rugby home matches, it will accommodate conventions, shows and a broad range of other sporting events thanks to its multi-purpose design. 

The design boasts a retractable pitch, to ensure the best possible playing surface for matches, and a retractable roof, which will help to create an intense atmosphere for sporting fixtures as well as creating the largest roofed entertainment venue in Europe, with a planned seating capacity of 82,000.

The new venue will be built South of Paris, with the architecture alluding to the hospitality and shelter of a town, with solid white stone masses on the exterior resembling the rock quarries of the region, contrasted by the variety of thriving public spaces and multi-level lounges within the structure.

Bounce your way across the Seine

This new concept by AZC, called ‘Bridge in Paris’, aims to bring urban dwellers back to “a state of primal happiness, of ancestral times when body and spirit were essentially free.” 

The bridge is made of three life raft-shaped inflatable modules with trampoline mesh stretched between each one and could be installed near the Bir-Hakeim Bridge on the River Seine in Paris. This is definetly a new way to get from one bank to another - fun!

You can find out more here.

Teleport between cities

To celebrate the launch of the new direct TGV service between Lyon and Brussels, French train operator SNCF created a "teleportation device" that instantly transported the Lyon public into the heart of Brussels.

They created a box that was situated in Lyon's Place de la République on 21 September and invited passers-by to "take a look at Brussels", by peering through a hole in one of its sides. Multiple screens connected by satellite then transmitted their faces to another set-up in Brussels's Mont des Arts square, while also feeding back images and sound to participants.

The result was an intercity interaction with bands and all.

Take a look at the video to find out more. (Concept by TBWA Paris)

Stylish sci-fi fantasy for Perrier

Perrier has launched a short film called 'Drop', produced by Ogilvy Paris.

The film sees a young woman attempt a mission to the sun when the temperature on the Earth reaches unbearable levels.

It is directed by Johan Renck and was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as French cinematography and includes lots of stylistic special effects courtesy VFX house Mikros Image.

A great visual spectacle but probably not the solution to global warming.

Michelle at Work - TTT goes to Paris

Submitted by Michelle Plett, Account Executive, PR at The Think Tank  

On October 6-7th I had the privilege of attending Architect@Work, Paris, one in a series of eponymous architecture fairs throughout Europe.

The Architect@Work (A@W) concept travels through Germany, France, The Netherlands and Belgium. Unlike typical trade fairs A@W focuses on creating opportunity for building business relationships in a less commercial environment, without bright lights, big stands and music filling the halls.

When I first walked in it was apparent that this fair was purpose built, darker than normal, the atmosphere screamed serious design. Located in one large hall visitors immediately came across the curated exhibition "Made in Light." Hosted by Innovatheque, the exhibition explored the use of innovative materials and how they are lit.

Below the exhibit delegates could attend a series of lectures on everything from materials to lighting. I chose one entitled "lumieres and luminaires; architectural lighting". It was fascinating, even though it was all in French, and the seats were comfortable too!

To the right and left were two hallways flanked by high black curtains. Nestled in groups of four company stands faced each other, triangular in shape, sharing a desk in the middle with only room enough to have a look at the product and then ideally, be taken off stand for a chat.

Note: I became incredibly adept at saying "Sorry, I am in PR and I'm here to view new products. I'm not looking for anything" in French... 

The model behind A@W is to spark interest through your stand and then take the potential client out to the halls where food and drink are provided throughout the day. Here a chat and refreshments allowed companies to dig deeper into client needs without distracting new visitors on stand.

The atmosphere was great; professional and focused. The delegates were right on target and my clients came out with great results. I would recommend this fair to anyone interested in reaching the European market.

Thanks Architect@Work for bringing it back to business.

Matt W Moore adds colour for Dulux Campaign

Dulux's Let's Colour campaign has been extended by mural painter Matt W Moore ,creating a series of 'live painting performances' in Marseille, Lyon and Paris. Let's Colour launched in the spring and is a global campaign from Dulux/AkzoNobel based on a concept to stage events in different cities in which Dulux paint is used to brighten up a neighbourhoods thereby "adding colour to people's lives".
See more here
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