CHEMINÉE MORETTI: PARIS' PSYCHEDELIC CANDY-COLOURED 'SKYSCRAPER'

Paris' Psychedelic Candy-Coloured 'Skyscraper'
By Yohani Kamarudin, Tech Graffiti, 20 February 2013.

Cheminée Moretti, La Défense, Paris. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Walk around Paris’ La Défense district and you can’t miss it. Like a giant stick of candy, Cheminée Moretti dominates its surroundings deliciously. Designed by late French artist Raymond Moretti, it reaches towards the clouds like a rainbow-coloured skyscraper - albeit with no doors or windows. Also known simply as Le Moretti, the structure was completed in 1990 and inaugurated in 1995.

Le Moretti surrounded by clear blue sky. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

The multi-hued tower is really a 105-foot (32-meter) high ventilation chimney that has been covered in 672 coloured tubes made out of durable fiberglass. If the tubes were stretched out end to end, they’d measure over 13 miles (22 kilometres).

Part of a silver sculpture in front of Le Moretti. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

The tubes of Le Moretti are a mixture of 19 various colours that differ in diameter from around one inch (three centimetres) to 12 inches (30 centimetres). The artist specifically chose a mixture of warm and cool hues that subtly change depending on the light. At night, floodlights illuminate the sculpture and cause it to reflect off nearby windows.

A street lamp stands in front of the tower. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Putting this enormous sculpture together involved a lot of work. The fiberglass tubes were transported by water from the factory where they were made. Then it took 200 people 2,100 hours to assemble them.

The colourful air vent flanked by more conservative looking structures.

Photo: Darrell Godliman.

In this particular photograph, the clouds above Le Moretti make it look like a psychedelic factory chimney spewing out plumes of candy floss-like smoke. The two buildings neighbouring the rainbow-coloured tower look quite subdued in comparison to the towering structure, which could almost be something from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Windows reflecting a warped Le Moretti. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

This shot gives you a pretty good idea of what you’d see if you lived next door to Le Moretti. The funky stripes of the sculpture look like multi-coloured curtains in the window. On the plus side for neighbours, they’re greeted by something bright each morning, but we’re not so sure what they must think of the floodlights shining in at night.

Kittens playing in front of Le Moretti. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

In light of recent Internet trends, we couldn’t help but include an image of Le Moretti with a couple of cute looking kittens frolicking out front. Kittens aside, photographer Darrell Godliman says that the colourful tower is one of his favourite things to shoot in Paris, and it’s not hard to see why.

A closer look. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Here’s a closer view of the fiberglass tubing that shows off all the different colours and sizes. In 1991, creator Raymond Moretti decorated a car that corresponded with the tower for the La Défense team taking part in the Paris to Dakar rally that year. The vehicle was later auctioned for charity.

Pedestrians walk past the sculpture. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Moretti was a famous artist for many years before he designed Cheminée Moretti. He worked with celebrated French artist Jean Cocteau in the 1960s and was good friends with Pablo Picasso.

More lamp posts in front of Le Moretti. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Here’s another look at the lampposts around the sculpture. Their drab grey colouring means that they definitely don’t blend in with the intensely hued backdrop. Moretti himself was an enormous fan of jazz music and designed album covers for many of the genre’s greatest musicians.

The bright stripes of Le Moretti reflected in the windows of a neighbouring

apartment. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

Godliman says that this image is one of his favourites from his Paris excursion. “I like reflections generally…and the distorted tubes make for an interesting subject,” he says. The reflections of Le Moretti in these windows look like works of art in themselves.

Dark clouds gather over the tower. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

This photograph illustrates what a difference a change in lighting can make to Le Moretti. The bright colours suddenly look more subdued underneath this dark cloud. What looks like a security camera is visible towards the top left of the tower, no doubt to deter vandals who might want to add their own ‘artistic’ touches to Le Moretti.

Reaching for the heavens. Photo: Darrell Godliman.

From this angle, the fiberglass tubes appear to stretch on for eternity. Le Moretti is an eye-catching Parisian landmark and a lasting memorial to its creator Raymond Moretti, who passed away in June 2005.

We’d like to thank photographer Darrell Godliman for sharing his great photographs of this amazing work of art with us. “Hopefully you’ll agree it’s a wonderful subject for photography,” says Godliman. “I certainly found it inspirational.”

Article Sources:

1. The Moretti

2. Raymond Moretti Profile

3. Raymond Moretti (Wikipedia)

4. Raymond Moretti (Yale University Library)

Top image: Cheminée Moretti. Credit: solcarlus/Flickr.

[Post Source: Tech Graffiti. Edited. Top image added.]