“La Passerelle enchantée” exhibition by Daniel Hourdé, on the Pont des Arts, in Paris

You cannot miss them standing on the Pont-Neuf bridge. Even through a downpouring of rain, large figures stand out on the 155m long Pont des Arts bridge. This is the enchanted footbridge staged by Daniel Hourde in 2016. The sculptures were installed in the week of 23 May, for inauguration on 25 May 2016. Being very tall, they can be seen from afar. The first thing we did was to set up the décor. By that we mean we “planted” the sheet metal trees. Then, we added the statues representing men (or women) and animals. Finally we added some colour… The sheets were calculated in such a way as to move slightly in the wind. The slenderness of the figures was optimised by the method used to calculate generalised buckling. Given the heritage nature of the Pont des Arts no mechanical links were used. The figures are self-stabilising in the wind.