The lights of Paris

Most people know Paris as the City of Light.  Most people don’t know, however, that the city government actually employs people who are solely responsible for designing and lighting Paris’ monuments, bridges and public buildings.

The NY Times recently ran a rather interesting profile of Francois Jousse, who is the “chief engineer for doctrine, expertise and technical control” for the City of Light.

Working with a staff of 30 decorative lighting specialists at a City Hall annex, Mr. Jousse helps create new lighting projects, lectures experts, negotiates with powerful players like the Roman Catholic Church and resolves technical problems at sites throughout the city. …

Mr. Jousse became one of the world’s foremost urban lighting experts by accident. A native of Paris, he landed a job in 1963 with the city’s engineering division after graduating from college, helping widen and deepen the city’s canals. … In 1981, a supervisor asked him to change course once again. “He wanted someone who would not be caught up in daily work and could think about light,” Mr. Jousse said. …

At the time, most of the Paris monuments were either unlighted or only crudely illuminated with big spotlights that shone directly onto the facades. Mr. Jousse sought out urban architects and theatrical lighting experts for ideas and technical training. He eventually created a research laboratory for the city of Paris, where he and a team began to create fixtures and to experiment with the color and intensity of light. The city now spends about $260,000 a day on its lighting.

There is something uniquely French about caring so much for one’s cultural heritage that a city would devote these resources to ensure the proper lighting of buildings and monuments.  How many cities hire someone to “think about light?”  If he had his way, though, Mr. Jousse would even go a bit further.

“If City Hall gave me money to do whatever I want, I’d teach people about the beauty of light. I’d make Parisians the owners of their light.”

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