paris orly welcomes orlove, a giant fresco by jean-charles de castelbajac

paris orly welcomes orlove, a giant fresco by jean-charles de castelbajac
all images courtesy of jean charles de castelbajac

after several weeks of installation, as of the 26th of november 2015, the entire façade of paris-orly south terminal accommodates ‘orlove’, an exclusive graphic and chromatic piece of art by jean-charles de castelbajac. the piece stands at 17-metres high and is 202-metres wide, bigger than 16 tennis courts.

jean-charles de castelbajac comments, ‘in every airport there’s a sense of mystery and a feeling of transition and being frozen in time. what is great about paris-orly south is the memories it carries for people. like those from the 60’s when I opened my hungry young eyes to the new world. henri vicariot’s design is palatial. I absolutely love the huge glass hall, the terraces and the poetry of having this stunning gateway to the sky.’

the artists transformed the experiences of the passengers into giant-sized images

because an airport is a place of encounters and emotion, aéroports de paris has joined up with jean-charles de castelbajac to interpret and transform the experiences of passengers, partners and paris-orly airport employees, into lively giant-size images. these experiences are now displayed on the 3,200 sq.m façade of the paris-orly south terminal. ‘i find it very moving because the characters that it represents are symbolic of our differences and origins; it’s like our cultures are blended and crystallised by colour, like a bond of hope,’ explains jean-charles de castelbajac.

welcome stories project
video courtesy of aéroports de paris

this giant piece of artwork is a clear example of aéroport de paris’ commitment to the world of art. this display will be accompanied by an interior design in the form of a narrative journey, displaying the nicest passenger experiences as part of the artist’s chromatic universe. in 2016, the paris-orly south terminal will reveal other surprises using jean-charles de castelbajac’s signature style.

jean charles de castelbajac, the artist, in front of his creation

to collect these personal accounts, aéroports de paris has launched the site welcomestories, where it asks its passengers and partners to tell their best stories linked to the airport so that jean-charles de castelbajac can interpret and transform them into a giant piece of art, which can now be seen on the façade of the south terminal.

a participative piece of art 

from the hundreds of stories that were sent in, the artist had to select some from these emotion-packed tales. jean-charles de castelbajac chose ten of them, which he has illustrated, such as: the first time that a grandfather sees his grandson arriving from réunion, enjoying life on the orly terraces, the magic of visits to the airport as a child, the emotion of a warm family welcome during a trip to iran, etc. the passengers each received a reproduction of their tale, as depicted by jean-charles de castelbajac, signed by the artist himself.

the whole façade of the airport is now covered with the artwork

live performance

this display will be accompanied by an interior design in the form of a narrative journey

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: juliana neira | designboom