How can certain essential urban functions be turned into artistic supports? In 1986, Michel Deverne brilliantly demonstrated this by decorating the ventilation shafts on avenue André Prothin with a superb glazed stoneware ceramic, evoking the rhythm of the wind.

Other works in the La Défense collection are also based on ventilation shafts:

• Mosaïque by Michel Deverne;
• Cheminée végétalisée by Édouard François;
• Le Moretti by Raymond Moretti;
• Les Trois Arbres by Guy-Rachel Grataloup;
• Cheminées by Philolaos Tloupas.

Born in 1927, Deverne developed his artistic activity in architecture and the city. Using aluminum and concrete in particular, he worked in France and abroad. His creations can be admired in many public places, such as the mosaics adorning the facades of buildings in Colombes, the steel sculpture in the Grand Place of the Poste Centrale in Avignon, or the steel relief on the BNP building in Tokyo. Deverne's approach is in the tradition of kinetic art, creating the illusion of movement by juxtaposing identical elements. In this way, he creates an optical illusion for the viewer as he moves.