The Arc de Triomphe

Known worldwide for its imposing architecture on Place de l’Étoile, the Arc de Triomphe has a role in French history that often goes untold. A witness to the nation’s defining moments, it embodies its unity. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux entrusted us with the monument’s panoramic terrace with a clear brief: put the Arc in context so visitors grasp its symbolic and historical significance.

Our film projects the visitor into the heart of the procession passing through the Arc during the return of Napoleon’s ashes, in 1840. Thanks to thorough historical research and analysis of period sources, the scene is reconstructed in every detail: the imperial chariot, the military parade, the roar of the crowd.

The experience then sets this reconstruction against a contemporary event that celebrated the same national unity: the French team’s return down the Champs-Élysées after winning the 2018 Football World Cup. The Arc de Triomphe still lives up to its name.

The virtual-reality films play in six languages in two self-service Timescope kiosks, installed at the top of the monument and inaugurated on 26 July 2019. Visitors take in the panorama of Paris, then dive into the same landscape a century and a half earlier.