Wearable architecture

These paper garments transform and adapt Victor Baltard's architecture to a human scale, confronting the rigidity of metal with the flexibility of the body.

Victor Baltard's Halles are an important part of Paris's architectural heritage, and their near-total disappearance invites us to celebrate and reflect on this architecture. This dress and these paper-cut jewellery pieces, inspired by its architectural motifs, blend rigidity and bodily presence, monumentality and movement. There is a desire to render this imposing metal architecture fragile and wearable, bringing it back to a human scale to create tension between the weight of the metal and the organic nature of the body.

This project was initiated to mark the 220th anniversary of architect Victor Baltard’s birth. It was exhibited at the Forney Library and Paris City Hall.