The town of Joinville-le-Pont, in Val-de-Marne, is preparing to unveil to its residents a new cultural, artistic, nature and family site, called LE SPOT. The idea? Transform the so-called “abandoned” space on the A4 motorway into an open-air gallery, urban forest and sports venue. While waiting for its opening scheduled for spring 2025, discover in images the 18 finalized frescoes, created by the 12 street artists selected for the occasion.
When a former wasteland is transformed to become a place dedicated to youth, combining sport, nature, culture and art! This is the ambitious renaturation and development project currently carried out by the municipality of Joinville-le-Pont. The town of Val-de-Marne has decided to transform the space of “ abandoned » of the A4 motorway in order to give rise to a new site, called I SPOT THEM.
Located under the famous road, this long strip had become over time abandoned land. So, the Ile-de-France commune decided to act. In spring 2025, this former vast unexploited area under the viaduct will open its doors to the public who will be able to discover a open-air gallery dedicated to street artwith 10,000 m² of painted surface.
To cover the different pillars of the structure and the 5,000 m² of the ceiling, 12 street artistsfrom 9 different countries, were invited to participate in this project curate par Notorious Brand. Notorious Brand is an urban art production and promotion agency, behind numerous frescoes in Île-de-France, such as in the metro or on the walls of the Necker Hospital. We also owe him the Gravity festival organized at the GoodPlanet Foundation.
While the artistic work was completed under the highway on December 6 and access to visitors is still inaccessible to this day, we had the opportunity to discover, on January 3, 2025, the 18 finalized frescoescreated by talented artists selected and retained by the city. On site, Mouarf by Notorious Brand is there to welcome us, and present the different works to us. There are notably those of the Spanish Joy of the Prado and Italian Refreshink. If the first is inspired by nature to give birth to works combining warm colors, mythological animals and ethnic symbols, the second stands out for its unique style.iconosaik“.
A little further on, our eye is quickly drawn to the incredible fresco signed Hugelocated just at the entrance to SPOT. Of Swedish origin, the artist is known for his photorealistic style of helium balloons. For the project, Huge therefore wrote “LE SPOT” in traditional letters forming impressive 3D helium balloons.
We continue our tour and discover the frescoes of PichiAvothe famous Spanish-Mexican duo, from Piet Rodriguez or even WOSKerski. The London-based urban artist created two incredible works in a realistic style for LE SPOT: “Laundry day” et “Le Eggsplosion“, which can even be seen from the Polangis quay.
We also fell in love with the trompe-l’oeil fresco created by the Portuguese artist Vilewith the biodiversity of the surrounding area as a backdrop.
We do not forget the impressive work carried out by Astro. The street artist, who lives in Charenton-le-Pont, was tasked with completely painting the ceiling, located under the highway. An immense fresco which required a month of work and the mobilization of four people in total.
Besides the artistic side, I SPOT THEM will also reveal a urban forestwith 400 planted specimens and 30,000 plans between the Quai de Polangis and Avenue Jean Estienne d’Orves. The idea? Create a “ urban lung» intended for families and residents of Joinville-le-Pont as well as schools in the surrounding area, Mouarf tells us.
Finally, because I SPOT THEM aims to be a place dedicated to youth, the Ile-de-France site will also offer sports areasincluding a skatepark, two “ pump tracks » for BMX enthusiasts, a huge space « Parkour », a climbing course as well as two 3×3 basketball courts and two 5×5 football fields. Sports areas which should be developed at the start of 2025. These will be carried out by Playgones, a company specializing in the installation of urban sports furniture, with which Notorious Brand therefore worked in close collaboration to harmonize the colors of the modules and grounds with the different works on the site.
The creation of this sports and fun space will be freely accessible. He ” embodies a strong commitment by the City to the vitality and well-being of residents. […] By keeping up with the times, this place becomes much more than a simple sports practice site: it is a space of conviviality and sharing, conducive to the creation of links between generations and audiences. » specifies the municipality on its website.
So, looking forward to discovering I SPOT THEM ? Appointment in spring 2025 for opening to the general public!
