 Vidal had the hope of becoming an architect, and so he enrolled at the fine arts school, École des Beaux-Arts de Paris while continuing to work as an engineer in the maintenance department Électricité de France.After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1961, he opened an architectural practice the same year, while continuing to work as an engineer at Fougerolles.As an architect, he collaborated with to design the Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain in Nice.