Courtesy Mircea Cantor & Yvon Lambert, Paris / New York

The Arch of Triumph gathers together and updates universal symbols from a very distant period. In the region of Maramures, in northwest Romania, inhabitants used to have imposing carved wooden doors in their houses, decorated with the tree of life, supposedly to repel evil forces. This symbol is replaced in Cantor's recreation of the door by the contemporary symbol of universal life: the double helix of DNA. The Arch is designed as an urban monument, covered in gold foils, celebrating contemporary humankind, inspired by an ancient humanistic tradition.