It is a splash of color in a concrete gray universe. The monumental fresco of red and yellow bricks and blue-tinted ceramic circles, erected in 1987 by French mosaic artist Charles Gianferrari (1921-2010), is nestled on Rue Jean-Cottin, at the end of a cherry tree-lined alley in the working-class neighborhood of La Chapelle. Neglected by public authorities and encroached upon by shrubs, the work remains a gathering point for locals: a "village square" where people stroll and connect, said Martine Boussoussou from the Résilience 18 collective, which is campaigning to save it. To "open up the neighborhood," the city hall of the 18^th arrondissement plans to create "a road that will lead to the destruction of the wall," explained Mario Gonzalez, deputy mayor in charge of urban planning, who clarified that "no demolition date is set." However, in mid-February, residents were informed that it was "imminent."

Beyond its social function, the work holds heritage value. Gianferrari contributed to bold architectural projects worldwide: In 1968, he erected a monumental urn in the utopian city of Auroville in southern India, which contains a handful of soil from every country in the world. In 1983, he designed the shimmering ceiling of the Museum of the National Haitian Pantheon, which houses the symbolic remains of Haiti's founding fathers. In France, he is credited with the geometric floor of the city hall patio in Grenoble, created in 1968 with millions of marble tesserae (and classified, along with other elements of the building, as historical monuments in February). According to Résilience 18, this is proof of the "aberration" of the destruction project in northern Paris, as they claim a "right to art, even in working-class neighborhoods."

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