Photography at La Défense – Agam Fountain and the Grande Arche
A visual dialogue between art and architecture. This photograph captures the alignment between Yaacov Agam’s monumental fountain and the Grande Arche at La Défense, in the heart of Paris’s business district.
Taken during my first visit to La Défense after the first lockdown, this image reveals the striking alignment between the Monumental Fountain by Yaacov Agam and the iconic Grande Arche. It’s a play of perspectives and reflections that celebrates both the geometric rigor of modern architecture and the expressive power of kinetic art.
Agam’s fountain, with its colorful bands submerged under some thirty centimeters of water, turns the mineral surface of the business district into a living canvas. Each ripple, each ray of light reveals new nuances. In the background, the Grande Arche stands tall as a monumental icon—both open to the sky and anchored within Paris’s historical axis.
This image pays tribute to the intersection of art and urban design, so characteristic of La Défense. It captures a peaceful, luminous moment in a place usually animated by professional hustle. It also marks a symbolic moment: the return to public space after months of isolation.
To learn more about Yaacov Agam’s work at La Défense or to explore the district’s cultural projects, visit the official Paris La Défense website.
About the author: Sebastien Desnoulez is a photographer of contemporary architecture. He explores perspectives, light, and the interaction between urban forms and public art in the built environment.
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All the photos displayed on this website are copyright protected © Sebastien Desnoulez. No use allowed without written authorization.
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