An offbeat visit to the heart of the Figure Tower.

Solid red, blue and white, hatching and black lines, Jean Dubuffet's Tower of Figures contains a second work: the Gastrovolve. An astonishing inner labyrinth that the curious are invited to experience. Visitors walk across the painted floor, up and down a few steps, without ever seeing the whole thing. They give free rein to their reverie and become actors in the work.

The exterior work

Rising to 24 metres, the Tour aux figures stands at the heart of the park of l'Ile Saint-Germain, on the edge of Paris. With its vivid colors, it is one of the major works of Jean Dubuffet's Hourloupe cycle. Across its entire skin, lines interlock with one another, giving rise to bodies and faces, figures “human or not.” On the south face, the full-length figure of a woman appears, while on the north face two heads are overlaid. Elsewhere, the shapes compose other figures, uncertain and fleeting, continually forming and dissolving before the viewer's gaze.

The inner workings of Gastrovolve

The tower offers visitors a rare experience: a second, hidden work that can be explored. Named by the artist as Gastrovolve, the tower’s interior evokes rotation, the visceral intimacy of an organism. It is an astonishing inner labyrinth that visitors are invited to feel: its walls, painted with black tracings on a white background, reveal themselves in fragments. The visitor walks on the painted floor, climbs or descends a few steps, never seeing the whole. For the artist, the Gastrovolve cultivates the solitary wanderer’s reverie and lets visitors step into the images, to become participants in them.

In this windowless edifice, the 117-meter-long ascent is reminiscent of a mountain walk, cut by landings and ramps leading sinuously to a high room at the summit.

The discovery area

To make Jean Dubuffet’s work accessible to everyone, an inclusive, freely accessible discovery space has been created in the grand hall of the Île Saint-Germain park, near the tower. The space offers both an in-depth look at the tower and alternative tools for people who cannot or prefer not to visit it.

A photographic exhibition accompanied by educational panels and tactile models provides an insight into the art of Jean Dubuffet and his strange tower. One screen shows a video introducing the history of the work, its construction and restoration constraints, while another allows a virtual visit. A children's play area with games and bibliographical resources for older children is open to all.