We announced it last November, the City of Lyon has decided to install a temporary artwork called "Tissage Urbain" in Place Bellecour. While barbecue season isn’t quite here yet, things are already heating up in the Presqu'île. For a few days now, the first wooden structures have been proudly rising in Place Bellecour, heralding the imminent arrival of the monumental piece envisioned by artist Romain Froquet and architect Tristan Israel. This XXL installation comes straight from the participatory budget of the City of Lyon, designed as a nod to the weavers' craft of the canuts. Poetic? Absolutely. Consensus-driven? Not really.
The project, estimated at 1.6 million euros, is anything but discreet. Giant arches, colorful drapes suspended in the air, water features, and shaded areas are meant to refresh strollers while re-enchanting one of the city's most iconic spots.
Mathematics of Lyon. Urban Weaving aims to transform Bellecour into a sensory theater, blending art, ecology, and heritage, with the crazy ambition of reconnecting the past and the future, mineral and plant life.📍Rien de plus emblématique que la place Bellecour à #Lyon.
— Grégory Doucet (@Gregorydoucet) November 12, 2024
Ce lieu de rencontres chargé d’histoire ressemblera bientôt à ça⬇️
Une première étape dans l’adaptation de ce site, avec un parcours ombragé, mais surtout un espace confortable où s’attarder sans craindre la chaleur.👇 pic.twitter.com/nzWN8gfsF1
An ephemeral artwork in the largest pedestrian square in Europe
But in Lyon, nothing ever really goes unnoticed. While some applaud an artistic initiative that breathes new life into a space often deemed cold and deserted, others cry out against the waste. Pierre Oliver, the LR mayor of the 2nd district, has not held back his words, denouncing financial waste at a time when budget cuts are pouring down elsewhere, particularly in the associative sector.
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In the meantime, the structures are taking shape, and the curtains – fireproof and ready to withstand winds of up to 100 km/h – seem prepared to face the crowds… or the critics. So, will the people of Lyon be charmed by this ephemeral artwork, like a grand urban ball? The answer will come this summer, on Europe’s largest pedestrian square transformed into an open-air gallery.
