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Barracks are not places where you would instinctively seek harmony and beauty. However, some of these buildings escape this rule. You only have to enter any of the quarters of the French Foreign Legion to be convinced. More broadly, military life and the quest for beauty appear in fact to be two mutually complementary human necessities. The place where soldiers live plays a fundamental role in their art of living. The ornaments and embellishments, which are often contributed by the soldiers themselves, represent symbols and myths that profoundly connect with the morale of the troops and even of a city, a region or country. The objects, insignia, words and names engraved on the monuments and walls are also a means of passing memory down through the generations. Finally, the beauty of a barracks building constitutes a part of the symbolism reflecting the solemn commitment of the military.