On the south side of the Palais Royal, we visited the Court of Honor in the Jardin du Palais-Royal. Louis Philippe II controlled the Palais Royal and since then, it has developed along with its surrounding structures. It is decorated and modernized with black and white striped posts of all different sizes. The Court of Honor is a ceremonial three-sided courtyard that is architecturally named because of its three sides and symmetrical advancing secondary wings containing mirror rooms. When the striped columns, named Buren's columns, were added in 1980, there was a lot of controversy because people believed that it adopted poor taste. I found myself and my classmates walking around saying "what are these?" I later discovered that the pillars were placed there as a way of offering the somewhat empty space to art. Buren wanted to make the open space more inviting, but not too comfortable so that people would pass through and acknowledge it, but it would still remain a place of passage.
It was a fun challenge to see which pillar I could attempt a handstand on... but the lower pillars were much safer!
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