Signals - Vassilakis Panayotis aka Takis

In response to a wish expressed by the architect of the Grande Arche, J.O. von Spreckelsen, Takis designed 17 light signals. The height of these light elements, installed in 1991, varies from 6.50 metres to 11.50 metres.

Placed at the rear of the Grande Arche, they mark the end of the axis that runs through La Défense, responding to those of Takis' Bassin to present a sensory experience, a changing spectacle, day and night. Thus, the colours vibrate differently, offering walkers a forest of lights to help them find their way around.

A word about the artist

Greek sculptor, Panayotis Vassilakis, known as Takis, was born in 1925 in Athens. He lives and works in Paris. Largely self-taught, he tried his hand at classical portraiture in the late 1940s before moving on to stylised figures and pure human forms.

Inspired by airports, marshalling yards and magnetic fields, fascinated by light and movement, he borrowed his basic materials from manufactured objects to create compositions that he called "Vibrating Painting", "Telesculpture", "Telesculpture", "Light Sculptures". His first " Signals ", piano strings vibrating thanks to the wind, were created in 1955.