Located at the Champs de Mars, Casper Mueller Kneer’s set design for Saint Laurent’s show plays with the site’s strong formality and draws from classical and modern motives of the courtyard villa. Four dramatic stairs lead to a raised podium allowing guests framed views of the city at the level of the boulevard trees. Framed by tall black perimeter walls, a court yard emerges. Monumental marble walls subdivide this space into connecting courts, offering both intimate spaces for viewing and long perspectives. Marble benches in assorted colours delineate them. At the centre, a black marble reflecting pool scatters light across the stage and, as the water stills, a mirrored surface looking skyward emerges. The myriad subtle tones of the material palette provides a soft and varied ambience. The porous Travertine of the floor and stairs was laid loose for reuse. The marble slabs were hung with clamps presenting each slab as a precious artefact and allowing them to be reused in other contexts. Their striking book-matched layout served as a foil to the event, for guests, and the collection. The black perimeter walls not only provided a sense of shelter, but also offset the preciousness of the other elements. On arrival the exterior-facing surface of these walls was animated with hundreds of lamps.