The projectors are installed in pairs, housed in two custom-built cabins on either side of the Pont de la Concorde, located directly in front of the building. Each pair of projectors is overlaid for brightness and covers half of the Palais Bourbon’s colonnaded front.
The eight-minute show takes spectators on a journey into the EU’s past, present and future, touching on themes including the history and formation of the union and its member states, culture, the environment, science, space exploration and education.
The projection system is fully automated by a pre-programmed timer. A signal is sent to turn on the Onlyview master station and then the four Onlyview servers, which in turn prompt the projectors and run the show. The reverse procedure is activated to shut everything down each night.
E/T/C’s video services director, Jean-Marc Constantien, told II: “It’s rewarding to be projecting onto the Assembl_e Nationale for an important occasion once again. Almost 20 years from when we first projected onto the Assembl_e using our PIGI projectors for the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, today we’re achieving the same powerful results using video technology which gives us more flexibility. It’s great to see how far projection techniques have come along, and satisfying to know that E/T/C is going stronger than ever.”
The temporary installation will remain in place until 31 December, when France’s EU presidency tenure comes to an end. The baton will then pass to the Czech Republic for the first six months of 2009, with Sweden next in line after that.