Pillar 2:
Inclusion in culture and through culture

Priority 13:
Taking creative climate action to improve health and wellbeing

Victor Hugo and Les Carmes are two covered markets with rooftop car parks located in the historic heart of Toulouse. With surface areas of 3,000 m² and 2,000 m² respectively, their rooftops act as significant points of heat capture within the urban heat island of the city centre.  

During the summer of 2023, the city launched an experiment to temporarily repaint the terraces of both car parks, testing how colour might affect the surface temperature and the surrounding microclimate. The project aimed to transform both parking facilities through artistic interventions designed to increase albedo and reduce heat absorption, mitigating the urban heat island effect in the city centre.  

Instead of treating this only from a technical perspective, the city chose to involve local artists, turning two rooftops into large-scale canvases. Vincent Abadie Hafez (Zepha), Cyril Simon (2Flui), and Nicolas Delpech & Benjamin Stoop (Atelier 2000) each created murals across the two sites over the summer.  

The project resulted in two spectacular temporary ground artworks that had a significant cooling effect on the site, with measured surface temperature differences of up to 6°C. 

Beyond testing a practical cooling measure, the initiative also aimed to spotlight the 20th-century architectural heritage at the heart of Toulouse. 

Find out more about this initiative through these videos:

Victor Hugo building: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKjcSi3fazQ 

Carmes building:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VofZ11IUm0g