New Rooftopping Show in Paris Will Make Your Heart Stop


Ready for a show like no other? Friend and famous rooftopper Tom Ryaboi has assembled an A-list team of fellow daredevil skyscraper climbers from around the world in an exhibition that will be one for the books. From January 16 to January 21, head to the top of the Publicis Groupe Headquarters on the Champs Elysees in Paris to see vertigo-inducing photos taken by Tom Ryaboi, Aurelie Curie, Andrew Tso, and Taran Cypher, on the rooftops of skyscrapers in Seattle, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Toronto.

As Tom tells us, “Whether we like it or not the urban build environment runs through our veins, there's nothing more beautiful and tragic than this affair between concrete, steel, glass and the people who go about their lives in and around it. There is no better place to see this majestic relationship than from the top of a building looking down, this is where the eternal and fleeting world meet, at the boundary between earth and sky. It has always been in our human nature to want to explore our surroundings, but now that we live in cities many have shelved this instinct. Rooftoppers are now taking this instinct to a whole new level.”

As a special “interactive” treat, the group has created a room on Publicis Groupe's roof, measuring 4×3 meters, that consists completely of a huge video screen (see immediately above). You're encouraged to stand on top of it, but beware, you're about to take part in a heart-stopping illusion. “When the experience starts you find yourself on the edge of a building,” explains Tom, “holding on for dear life.”

Now, courtesy of Tom, here are some photos you can expect to find at the show and a short trailer. (Warning, even that's intense.)


Photo: Tom Ryaboi


Photo: Aurelie Curie


Photo: Taran Cypher

First photo credit: Andrew Tso

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