A vibrant basketball court has appeared in-between the classical structures of Paris. (Alex Penfornis)

Ranging from the neo-baroque style of the Palais Garnier or neoclassic architecture of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris boasts both artistic creativity and modernization. Midst these historical buildings, largely absent of color, now exists a modern work of art.

French fashion brand recently collaborated with and to create a colorful basketball court. Sandwiched in between two apartment buildings in Paris’ ninth arrondissement, the court’s vibrant shades of purple, pink, yellow and blue starkly contrast the older surrounding buildings.

“We aim to establish visual parallels between the past, present and future of modernism from the ‘avant-garde’ era of the beginning of the 20th century, to the ‘open source’ times we live in today, and our interpretation of the future aesthetics of basketball and sport in general,” . “Through this new court, we wish to explore the relationship between sport, art and culture and its emergence as a powerful socio-cultural indicator of a period in time.”

This isn’t the first time Nike has put a creative twist to a basketball court. In 2014, the sports brand transformed a basketball court in Shanghai with as part of their Nike RISE campaign. Two years later, Nike hired Brooklyn-based artist Kaws to paint basketball courts.

“Since the legacy of Greek and Roman antiquity, sport is represented as a dominant idea within the beauty of an era,” said Ill Studio. “This never-ending quest for modernity has forged a strong bond between functionality and aesthetics over the decades.”