![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf18SvJc_6UDxBoGuAHcfD2YguGpsPH36xOnt5gX7tLyjYxQ1LFAsMfdKCKYCM0qQ9eoOG2IJdnWIC3MhPjI09W2pxxM1zGSxbwXxuox6IFZ7vHLCXgIqFMd5r1J51StHnmmE2PzeAumPB/s1600/2101dec7.jpg)
Here's some eye-candy for a Tuesday evening: Arc en Ciel, a new building in Bordeaux, France—part residential, part office—by Bernard Buhler Architects, spotted via Architizer.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjf_DRqUwpSw_7k4AReOUeRlBBIoZt4Gp8YBCuch48wQT8nJ-TJGcRr5ZpbQt0kvCWX5GqR5O1B-TFOusiFzBtcfGbrs_OuNBpbFTD63C0kY_I25f-EQXiobhCTjYybRgrn20Fcy_lm03/s1600/3336111f.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvN-Mlr1qRCpLkSw37ZpiaSqYPPuPdhwFDTAlpluwKfsIgEKpmzeisAoGZ_qkJc2saZ6uOugjByBObqrb-rhz9MnTNKXUVL6teD8katVkN2Z0um-HWFxeSOoIItipSPAcjpyGZB168d8lg/s1600/7c8ce7f6.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-vtjpjmW8kiXshjFy4xuaK0ml-28OqCa-T3c8C4IGSReIjZ6jSXVbsPZaJi931SeQrkMxU3xKNv6Zy_3Vyo5fsQdLFl2kPY1uWM8KjKiJsAZ5AIJnGy7iJ_1Ql5mp4REg06wEW-Dzs9y/s1600/f947f0f1.jpg)
With a building as eye-catching as this one, it's quite difficult to imagine a rationale behind adding graphics to the exterior glass windows—like children's drawings, or some vague gesture toward 'street art'—which looks both kitschy and unnecessary.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCW1Oqj195joQSAY-dl8uXOgoCQppJEs6zRNMffIHoDLyFaoaKfGDDitLp0sOYOpKHkzBaG7ZIfOc2AFQDquERN4t9sbd5efw9skVbpLCLTqqQRgrOAbcfxIUDcmnL3qS9MdSPdxAlA9ky/s1600/13ed2305.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPRDLecRS3A0SDJJF8l5f_kHdlzwj6CysK855U5P_QpTps4JaxdkyhdHxDlloTNVYRpSZXlLmTCg9pcgltCg52zTL1kNNh4ssxMwapluHTPxgF9LouBG-mZGlJ-4C_KpALw8boplKsBEc/s1600/1d379eb5.jpg)
After all, the graphics-free windows look fantastic—but c'est la vie.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsrOUeR_8cGPp7Bv47hNZBBLYbBF6M_gr5CdgWvJCuQwom66LP3Xh7TkGdo3G43cXsYoxmDZLrJqSezsnJaTop33FdqmEoyAcpby_yl3AC0v_AvS8LrGQdUfxZEHpXBq3fDpHlEN0dLWs/s1600/caa38727.jpg)
Successfully, to my mind—based entirely on a scan of some photographs on the internet—the colored exterior glass works not only to vivify the building's urban site but to bring a constantly changing series of hues, like a colored bar code, onto the interior walkways. I would love to see this place lit from within at night, a sight the available photographs don't offer.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4Akp8-dHn7S4KXbbJLXlSP9pXD1246tFf5cL18nNHwWrxCufIBjNw_cxrXmBbVtsmAoWcXsHQy4YjZvQHUmkTGpP81ga5mEVfL8LQOk0cQfVwq8AoEuSPVAoJ_grCqxW4NTGskgNmuuf/s1600/a6041c2a.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimciC4KK9yymxpIUmOG5DeiwxfTW8XgSFWCMXUaXFltBXU6azK8jTv3O9C2uLySwp9PEHlqE2Xuun66fqVp3NlbdaSU7kvCDenh3Vo4zrEr47SDIx5wEe2I5MnykzLlcUksE3KuXzJ8INe/s1600/939eef3e.jpg)
Anyway, the building looks cool; that's about all I have to say. I will add, however, that I'm struck by how extraordinarily better the actual, constructed building is, compared to its rendering, seen below.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDhWVZlXDtxxb8Xe16T3VG4vAZoLo-29nMhT4ycdMkJtETtc97zrzDJxy-Yu7LaGt5S9nqY0419dwjK_RTH4g9qPfVLNoT8w38itHgi016H9Qb_FXruLphVm9fmlBS9THybWwDZerrAqL/s1600/19b097fa.jpg)
All the more evidence that rejecting (or embracing) a building's outward formal characteristics on the basis of renderings is not necessarily a good idea.
See many more images over at Architizer.
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