Nature invades Paris's July Column in Corals of Liberty installation by Aude Franjou
French artist Aude Franjou has created an installation for Paris Design Week featuring handwoven coral-like forms that spiral upwards through a staircase within one of the city's most famous landmarks.
Franjou was commissioned by Florence Guillier Bernard, founder of local gallery Maison Parisienne, to design the installation in the July Column using her signature method of weaving natural fibres to create organic shapes.
Corals of Liberty comprises dozens of linen branches that reach from the floor to the ceiling within the monument's internal rotunda. It is the first-ever installation to occupy the iconic July Column, which was built in 1835 to commemorate the July Revolution of 1830.
The monument was originally conceived as a fountain to celebrate the arrival of water in Paris, but ultimately became a memorial dedicated to liberty.
Franjou told Dezeen that her installation responds to these layers of meaning, with the unfurling shapes seemingly carried upwards by a surge of energy, while their gradient shift from pure white to deep red metaphorically represents the ideas of vitality and transformation.
"The work reflects both the memory of those who fought for freedom and the broader idea of rebirth," Franjou explained.
"By situating this living, organic presence at the heart of the column, I wanted to reconnect the monument not only to its origins linked with water, but also to its enduring role as a symbol of liberty, resilience and collective memory."
Having previously created artworks based on natural forms such as roots, vines and seaweed, for this project, Franjou chose coral to reinforce the connection to water and the canal that still runs beneath the monument.
Each branch-like element is made by wrapping coarse linen fibres with a finer thread, up to as many as a hundred times. This process produces dense yet pliable shapes that can be woven together, twisted and distorted to create the organic sculptures.
Coral of Liberty took more than six months to compile and is a testament to Franjou's passion for traditional crafts.
Her fascination with the sculptural potential of natural fibres was informed by childhood memories of the fields of flowering linen where she grew up and the ropes tied to boats in the port of La Cotinière.
Franjou began using linen thread as a sculptural medium in 1999, after completing her formal training in tapestry at the Duperré School of Applied Arts in Paris.
"It is a fibre that is both strong and malleable," she pointed out. "I can twist it, wrap it and shape it into sculptural volumes, and through tension it becomes almost petrified, holding its form."
"Yet it retains an organic, breathing quality," she added. "Its subtle irregularities make each piece unique, giving the finished work a sense of life that I could never find in synthetic materials."
Corals of Liberty is a follow-up to a previous work by the artist called 2°C, which aimed to highlight how climate change is causing coral bleaching in many of the world's most important reefs.
The installation was presented by Maison Parisienne on a barge during the annual Nuit Blanche arts festival, with Franjou conducting a live performance to demonstrate her technique.
Maison Parisienne was founded in 2008 as a platform for presenting artists and makers such as Pierre Renart, Simone Pheulpin and Gérald Vatrin, whose work focuses on material exploration and innovation.
Other recent design installations on Dezeen include a build-it-yourself sound sculpture in London and a fish-and-chip shop made entirely out of felt.
The photography is by Vincent Leroux.
Corals of Liberty is on display at the July Column from 4 to 13 September 2025 to coincide with Paris Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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