Paris Adorns an Iconic Building In Condoms

When asked to build a trade show pavilion, entrants of the Ceramics of Italy Exhibition Design Challenge last year were blessed with access to an incredible range of ceramic tiles. Utilizing CTI’s extensive catalogue, competing architects were to design a temporary space to join the ranks of ceramic experiments by Aldo Rossi and Bernard Tschumi. When commissioned to outfit the iconic tunnel-like staircase at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Irish artist Bryan McCormack took on a wholly different base material as his launching point: condoms.

Preservation is Life is an installation that spans all six floors of the tubular exterior stairway, lining the tunnels with 80,000 colored condoms pulled over a sea of cylindrical light bulbs. According to Feel Desain, as visitors ascend the museum, they pulse through waves of color and listen to streaming audio of different frequency heartbeats. The immersive experience is a striking visual essay on materiality, a wonderful site-specific installation, and a bold statement aimed at raising AIDS awareness.

[All images courtesy Feel Desain]

This post originally appeared on Architizer, an Atlantic partner site.