The result is spectacular! Since 11 October 2021, drivers taking exit no. 4 to Grenoble as they come from Lyon on the A480, have been plunged briefly into the “Big Blue" ocean landscape.
A fresco, representing cetaceans and fish on an aquatic background, has been painted over the whole length of the slip road. This unexpected work covers a length or some 1,300 m² incorporating the underpass (including the underside of the deck), the supporting walls, a soundproofing screen and a systems room installed at the base of the structure.
See the video on the production of this work: https://www.a480rondeau.fr/le-saviez-vous/art-inserer-a480/(link is external)(link is external)
Painted on an exit ramp of the “Louise Michel” exchange, the graffiti is invisible to users passing on the A480, as it is on the walls of the structure that passes under the motorway.
AREA & APRR entrusted the painting of this “giant roadside aquarium” to the Spacejunk Grenoble association, notable as the organisers since 2015 of the “Street Art Fest Grenoble-Alpes”, the largest festival of its kind in Europe.
Jérôme Catz, director of the Spacejunk art centres, is delighted with this joint venture with the motorway operator: ”I was surprised by AREA’s willingness to do good and their readiness to listen to the expertise that we could bring to producing such a remarkable work which will brighten up the area and will last for years”.
For Jérôme Catz, the chosen subject - “the aquarium and the fish” has a certain logic to it: ”We are talking about achieving overall environmental compatibility with the Drac, a tributary of the Isère, which follows the course of the motorway and passes under the A480. The idea is therefore to give the impression of diving under water, as if in a glass tunnel with fish all around”.
Staying in theme, the rectangular shape systems room, which adjoins the structure, has been transformed to resemble an aquarium, with a 3D effect that attracts the attention of drivers and bikers. In the search for artists specialising in “aquatic” work of this type, Spacejunk chose two graffiti painters of international renown: Veks Van Hillik and Etien’.
Both artists had barely a week in which to paint their fresco. A serious challenge for a monumental work.
In parallel with this production, AREA co-opted the children of the district, each of whom put their first name on the work.
Urban integration is part of the major challenges that AREA faces in redeveloping the A480 Rondeau, an urban expressway that crosses Grenoble and where there is a strong connection with street art.
Right from the project design phase, the APRR & AREA teams focused on how to merge the A480 into the city and its environs.
Solutions such as completely planted soundproofing screens, landscaping at the edges of the section and the use of gabions as a reminder of the pebbles in the Drac are all results that are now visible.
In neighbouring city Chambéry, motorway street art has also enhanced the “Belle Eau” quarter.
 
Chambéry: make way for artists at the Belle Eau!
During the summer of 2021, on the A43 motorway, AREA built a bridge spanning the railway lines at the rue de Belle Eau in Chambéry (Savoie). To optimise integration of the bridge with its urban surroundings, AREA also decided to call on an association of graffiti painters to produce two unique works on the sides of the bridge. To decorate the bridge in an original way, AREA again turned to local artists.
The Maise Collectif is an association of devotees and artists with some ten members. Their aim is to produce and experience art in their own way. Influenced by urban cultures, and more, the association proposes its work where the diversity of techniques and resources shine through in all their splendour.
The artists first of all prepared the surface meticulously, by applying a product which would enable them to draw. They then moved on to the painting! At the end of the week-end, a graffiti composed of rounded and coloured letters honouring Belle Eau had been completed on the side alongside the railway track.
Then, the other side of the bridge facing the road had to be painted. The street artists chose to create a fresco which highlighted forms of active mobility. Here you can see cyclists, scooter users and joggers in motion … always in colour!
These works have contributed to harmonious integration of the new structure in the urban landscape, and at the same time enabled local artists to demonstrate their talent.
Nor has Annecy in the Haute-Savoie been neglected in this novel approach.
Video: timelapse of the painting of the bridge at rue de Belle Eau, in Chambéry: https://a43.aprr.com/cadre-de-vie/pont-de-la-rue-de-belle-eau-place-aux-...(link is external)
 
Annecy: a dreamlike fresco over 700 m² in a tunnel
When the A41 motorway was upgraded from two lanes to three, the bridge spanning the D172 (route de Proméry at Pringy, near Annecy) became a real tunnel for motorists.
And, with its dark concrete walls, pedestrians were reluctant to use it. In addition, tarpaulins had been used to cover the walls and avoid tagging.
To improve attractiveness and general acceptance, AREA offered the local council finance to have a fresco painted in April 2021 covering the full length of the tunnel and both its sides.
After a tendering exercise, Art By Friends from Annecy was selected. This company, with numerous works to its credit, enables more than 200 international artists to demonstrate their skills. The choice of fresco was put out to a poll among citizens and then voted on by the local authority, to the immense satisfaction of the Deputy Mayor, Xavier Osternaud: “This is a first: 300 of the town’s population have democratically chosen this modern coloured fresco”.
On site, the artist Antoine Martinet, known as MioSHe, worked with two assistants, Quentin and Coco. After two weeks’ work and 200 litres of paint, the composition, covering an area of 700 m², was completed.
Not only is the structure now truly enhanced and well illuminated, it also has with a security system, a 30 km/h speed limit zone, flashing lights and speed cushions, for the location has become very popular with families.
APRR & AREA will certainly be employing similar artistic urban integration initiatives again!