‘If the law were a colour [it would be gold]’: the architecture of the CJEU

Abstract In the architectural design by Dominique Perrault of the fourth (2008) and fifth (2019) renovation and extension of the Courts of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, the lead colour is gold. This article poses the question: why gold? Or, more precisely, what is the architectural story told in gold? In approaching this question, the article draws on research about the physical architecture of courtrooms in socio-legal studies and joins in on the call to bring a spatial inquiry to the study of EU law. It thus engages with scholarship on law and architecture, design, materiality and notably colour. Concretely, the article proceeds by tracing two design narratives communicated by the Court itself: a historic reference to the European Community of Coal and Steel and a recurring reference to the classical Greek drama. It shows these two narratives as stories of origin and beginning, which ultimately position the Court at the centre of the EU project. The article argues that, whether seen as solemn and serene or as incredibly ‘bling’, this golden design amplifies pre-held views of the CJEU.