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INTERVIEW / FRANÇOIS MIGEON
Pic: Xavier Testelin
Two towers: Tour Perret in Amiens (above) is one project Migeon would like to revist, using the new technologies now available. His renovation of Tour Zamansky in the Jussieu area of Paris (right) fulfils the needs of office occupants whilst creating a ‘tower in motion’ effect through the slight axial rotation of lighting on each consecutive floor
Pic: Xavier Testelin
doesn’t mean that cities necessarily have to be lit up, or that they have to become postcard perfect where the beautiful monu- ments are lit up, leaving the other less notable places in darkness. Urbanity is a hi- erarchy in which there is an urban noctural composition.
“I am becoming more and more adverse to lighting projects that make a city look like a street furniture catalogue. It’s ridiculous, it irritates me profusely! Even more so when the neighbouring village does the same thing! We need to stop generalising spaces with light and instead characterise them ac- cording to their function and position in the city, the way they are used, their rhythms... everything that identifies a space.” When you ask François Migeon about the concept of colour, he says he thinks about... “White. It’s the most beautiful colour. It served me well in the colour period of my work. It’s a colour you use to excentuate the matter or the material. I’m currently making changes to my way of working. I think that white light has such a fine qual- ity, when you think about white you can think about a very large palette of colours. A colour is in fact white when it loses a part of its spectrum. I’m going to start working more with white again or with less satu- rated colours.”
www.grandeurnature-lumiere.com
Pic: Xavier Testelin HIGHLIGHTS
Lighting Heroes? “Bob Wilson, he made me truly perceive light in his Orlando production at the Odeon Theatre in Paris in 1993. There are also other artists like Claude Lévêque, Ange Leccia or James Turrell who I’ve been impressed by. I’ve also been drawn to François Seigneur, and Piotr Kowalski who have produced lighting sculptures like urban art. I’ve seen some dance companies who do some great things with light.”
Memorable Projects? “I concentrate on each project in turn so that it’s always the most important project. The redevelopment of the Zamansky tour at a university in the Jussieu area of Paris is one of them.”
Notable Projects? “The Espeyran’s Sabatier museum in Montpellier shows furniture reconstructed in their original contexts. We offered to do a lighting piece on superimposition, which didn’t fit with the style of the work. We were allowed to redesign the ceiling in a very simple and contemporary way. In the end, I felt that the lighting supported the original idea really well.”
Current Projects? “We have a lovely project in the Paris area, in Bois d’Arcy, where there’s a protected nature reserve. I think I should start my job all over again and ask myself some fundamental questions. You need to have real intelligence
to be able to slip light into the countryside where you shouldn’t notice it.”
Toughest Projects? “At the moment I’m taking part in a competition with Rem Koolhaas and Kilo architecture. I would love to do a project together, I admire them so much. I would also love to work with the architects Herzog & De Meuron.”
Any projects you would like to change? “I would really like to revisit the Tour Perret project in Amiens to work on the colours a bit more, because new technologies have been developed now.”
Project you like? “Tower of Winds by Toyo Ito in Japan, who plays with lighting various kinds of structures. I was also very impressed by the last projects Georges Berne did with Claire Lise Bague, with lighting up Nessun Dorma in Beijing. It’s an extremely perceptive piece with a rare elegance to it.”
Project you dislike? “The 200 year anniversary celebrations of the Eiffel Tower. It’s an absolute disaster! The lighting completely contradictes the architecture, the colours are insipid, the movements devoid of concept, it’s very far away from the work and the quality you would expect from a professional light show.”
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