In 1607, France's Pont Neuf was officially opened to the public. The light gray stones that form its arches carry a story of Paris since the time of Henry III.
Now, the bridge crossing the Seine is set to be transformed into a rocky monumental illusion by the renowned French street artist JR who describe the project as "possibly the largest immersive installation ever made."
Project 'Pont Neuf Cavern' will span 120 metres in length and measure over 17 metres in height.
The “cave”, will be equipped with surround sound and digitally augmented reality (AR) to accompany pedestrians as they walk through the structure.
Transformation tribute
This isn’t the first time for the historic bridge to be the subject of an enormous transformation. In 1985, artist duo Christo and Jean-Claude wrapped Pont Neuf and its street lamps in a pale silky golden fabric.
After a decade-long negotiation with the then mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, it helped define the modern template for monumental public art in city centres.
JR - a pseudonym stemming from first name, Jean-René - describes his 2026 project a tribute to the husband and wife artists who famously met in Paris. To him, the homage is both aesthetic and personal so there's an added pressure of working on such an iconic landmark.
“I had the chance to meet Christo along the years," he said. "We had big respect for each other's work. It’s pretty hard to go after them, but I’m doing it in a very different style, in my own way,” added JR.
Artnet reported that Paris authorities signed on quickly this time, with mayor Anne Hidalgo calling the project a “gift to Paris.” Hidalgo also linked her support to her own memory of 1985.
“I observed this impressive artwork from afar, before approaching and finally walking through this metamorphosed monument,” she said in a statement. “It was an unforgettable moment of poetry and beauty.”
A bridge too far
The idea for the cave came through the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, led by their nephew Vladimir Yavachev, who approached JR because he wanted a new interpretation, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of initial wrapping in 1985.
The Pont Neuf project was originally supposed to open in 2025, but was pushed back to 2026 because of technical and logistical problems.
The massive scale of the project is not daunting for the reputable artist. Starting off as a teenage graffiti writer in Paris, he shifted into photographic interventions that sit on buildings, bridges, and rooftops.
Some of his most famous works include a 20-metre cutout of an infant along the U.S.-Mexico border, and his Inside Out project that became a global participatory campaign with more than 600,000 contributors.
Humanity is always a central theme in JR's works with faces frequently appearing. Even though this latest venture will be free of his traditional trademarks, he is betting on JR reaching people's emotions through changing how they interact with one of the French capital's most recognisable landmarks.
From a distance, he wants the bridge will look “as if it has been overtaken by a prehistoric outcrop,” a rock mass planted in the middle of a familiar skyline. Up close, he wants people to notice the bridge as an object with texture and age.
In an interview with the City of Paris, he said the trompe l’oeil (optical illusion) aims to bring visitors “as close as possible to the cracks in the bridge,” and to show what sits “beneath the surface” of a monument most people treat as background.
Inside, JR has planned for a controlled switch in the atmosphere. He said that the tunnel will block daylight so fully that visitors “will lose track of time.”
Two key collaborators will handle the parts that visitors will feel but can't see as they enter the installation. "It will be something you’ll only hear from the inside” says Thomas Bangalter, the former Daft Punk member, who is creating the sound.
Snapchat's AR Studio Paris is developing the augmented reality layer, which visitors can access through their phones.
JR frames the installation as a way to think about perception, what we accept as real, and what we miss when we only look at the city through a screen.
However, despite visitors being invited to use their phones to interact with the exhibition, JR says one of the most unusual aspects of the installation will be the invitation to get people to stop, momentarily.
“Our caves today [are] our phone,” JR said, “because we believe that our algorithm on social media ... is the reality.”
Pont Neuf Cavern will be open in Paris from 6-28 June, 2026.
