The Sound of Stars

Parisians are traditionally thought of as being egocentrical with little interest in what is happening elsewhere in France let alone the wider world, but there is one place* in the city where the whole raison d'être is to focus on things outwards and upwards; the Observatoire de Paris. Today they are publishing a fascinating insight into the mysterious world of music in space.

What is the aural equivalent of invisibility and is there a word for such a concept? Professor Eric Michel and his team at the Observatory of Paris-LESIA-CNRS have been studying data received from the CoRoT space telescope, and using a concept known as stellar seismology have been able to let us hear the sounds that stars are making.

This music is based on the pulsating energy at the interior of the star and is a kind of throbbing, rhythmic palpitation. Of course, the scientists are not simply modern day equivilants of Gustav Holst, and there are valauble scientific lessons to be learned from 'listening' to stars. In fact, it is a technique which is becoming increasingly popular amongst astronomers as it gives an additional dimension to our knowledge of the universe.

I'm no scientist and I wouldn't want to insult anybody by attempting to go into any more depth on the subject, so if you are interested you'll need to get this week's edition of Science magazine! If like me though you're simply interested in the curious world of noise in space, you can listen to the strange music here and here.

Further Information
* The Observatoire de Paris is actually three buildings; one in the 14th arrondissement, one in the suburb of Meudon and one at Nançay in the Cher region of France.

The observatory in Paris is a very interesting, historic building and is occasionally open to visitors. In the eternal battles between England and France, it famously lost out to Greenwich in London as the site that should be recognised as the prime meridian of the world. Naturally however, the French ignored this judgement and continued to refer to Paris as the meridian for another 27 years until 1911. For more information on this building and some interesting photos, visit Peter's blog.

Beautiful Contrasts

There are many people who believe that beauty is simply the result of perfect symmetry. Psychological and sociological studies seem to suggest that we are predisposed to be more sympathetic to people with a mathematically pure facial structure, whilst physicists and chemists speak of natural symmetry dominating in other spheres. It is a sign of healthiness perhaps, or maybe just a symbol of comforting conformity.

Personally, I find uniformity of form to be oppressive and tedious. I am no fan of French manicured gardens for example, and I prefer to see organic contrasts and juxtapositions working together to enhance the beauty of each other. I stopped to admire the handsome art nouveau building in the picture above, but I was only impelled to take a photo after noticing the hairdressing salon at ground floor level. The decay of the shop-sign against the pristine building is almost a definition of charm, with the reds smeared like cheap lipstick on the pale face of duchess.

A little further along, another clash of two distinct styles; imposing masculine neo-classical solidity and feminine art-deco curves and decorative tiling. Both would be ordinary and non-descript taken in isolation, but dancing together they are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And in the middle, where the flesh joins, a final poignant and touching sight – a shared drainpipe!

Brave New World

(Square Sarah Bernhardt, 75020)
There is a part of Paris where Sarah Bernhardt and Jean Mounet Sully are forever united. Two of the most famous actors of their era, the pair were often partners on stage and said to be lovers behind the scenes. They died within 7 years of each other, and less than 20 years later, the city of Paris had placed them side by side in a corner of the 20th Arrondissement. A park for Bernhardt, and laying down beside her, a street for Mounet Sully.

Passionate characters on stage, the two now abide in an area of commendable harmony. The Square Sarah Bernhardt and her surrounding streets of admirers form part of a kind of 1930s theme park, a homogeneous blend of natural greens and brick reds with faint touches of curved concrete greys. Whilst paying respects to giants of a previous age, this district also provides a vision of a society that thought it had found answers to past problems. We didn't listen to the visionaries then and it's probable that we never will.

Like an ageing actress, the Square Sarah Berhardt remains elegant but has lost the éclat of youth. It still provides a haven for local families, with sheltered corners for those wanting tranquillity and a giant, sandy play area for the kids with energy to burn up. What makes it stand out from other parks in Paris however are the modernist structures scattered around that seem to serve no purpose today. On one, a neo-classical mosaic of a deity playing a harp provides a link back to the recurrent artistic and pastoral theme of the quarter, but others are simply empty shells. As forms though, they provide a wonderful counterpoint to the surrounding buildings.


Outside the park are several brick constructions, known generally in France as ilots. These were the stadia overlooking the greenery, and housed the emerging Parisian middle-classes. Constructed in the decade Huxley introduced us to his nightmare vision of the future and Orwell published his account of a recent down and out past, these were the buildings that would lead Parisians from squalor towards a future of serenity and equality.

Influenced by art deco forms, they point nevertheless towards a modernist future. These were homes as 'machines', bringing objects of modern production, such as electricity and telephones into daily life. On the edge of industrial areas to the north and east, these blocks were designed with certain themes in mind. Inhabitants should have larger, more salubrious living areas, access to the latest gadgets and be surrounded by greenery and artistic symbology. In essence, these were homes for the Betas, designed to make people like their unescapable social destiny.

In reality, it was the end of a golden age of architecture and the vision was largely rendered irrelevant by economic depressions, continuing poverty and a catastrophic global war. Architecture and urbanism provide the framework of our lives, but they cannot solve political problems. With today's economic climate, the spectre of the 1930s is being mentioned again, but what have we actually learned since then? All we have established is that great art and wonderful buildings stand firm whilst economists and politicians are purely ephemeral.

The Last Picture Show

What happens when buildings die? What do we do with their skeleton when we’ve stopped using them and no longer need them? The truth is that buildings are stronger than us and no material is more flexible than stone. Their metamorphosis fascinates me, and the history and transformation of structures tells us much about ourselves.

The picture displayed here seems to show a supermarket, but look beyond the neon cosmetics and you’ll see something else. The art deco forms and whitewashed walls seem to suggest another life from a previous existence. Close your eyes to the trappings of today and imagine large posters adorning the walls. Replace Intermarché with the name of the latest blockbuster and you’ll see what this building originally housed; a cinema.

Paris is still the European capital of cinema, with over 100 cinemas and more than 300 screens in the city, but these figures represent only about 30% of the total that existed a generation ago. There are still several cinematic hotspots around the city where the concentration is almost as plentiful as before, such as around the Champs Elysées, the Grands Boulevards and Montparnasse, but in the post-war golden age of cinema, almost every district of Paris had a comparable number of establishments.

Many of these structures have been demolished, but the majority have survived and been transformed. Some have naturally evolved into theatres or concert venues, whilst others have been stripped and become nightclubs. Their rather unorthodox spaces have also meant that they provide ideal frameworks for supermarkets, and as they were often placed at convenient locations, they have thrived in this reincarnation.

From a cultural and architectural perspective, it may seem a shame that a cinema has become a supermarket, but it is a perfect reflection of our 21st century lifestyle. Shopping has become a leisure activity and we spend more time today feeding our bodies than our minds. Television, then later video and DVD also killed the cinema’s starring role, but it’s comforting to see that the physical structures are still alive. Our cityscapes are defined by the way we lead our lives, but like wallpaper in an old house, we can strip back the layers and read into the past. As the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras wrote, “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”.

Further Information:
Thanks to this fantastic resource I’ve discovered that the building in the photo at the top was previously the Séverine on the Boulevard Davout. The second photo displays another example and another supermarket, this time on the Rue d’Avron. The Palais d’Avron is dead, long live Atac! This example is especially interesting as the building also provides access to the Buzenval Metro station, which is a suprisingly rare feature in Paris.

Audience Participation!
This entry is now officially a joint-effort. If you have any photos of converted cinemas, either in Paris or elsewhere in the world, send them to me and I’ll publish them here.

Here are the first pictures I have received so far. Tim sent me an interesting before and after from Conflans in the Yvelines, proving that cinemas can also rehabilitate old spaces! The old Salle de Fetes became a cinema in 1951 and it is still in operation today.

Peter has also very kindly sent me some pictures of disused cinemas near where he lives in Paris.

Previously the Gaité Clichy could be found at 106 avenue de Clichy. Today it is the Astros disco.

The Tati at 76 avenue de Clichy was previously the Gloria.

The Cardinet Palace at 112-113 rue Cardinet is now another supermarket, this time a Franprix.

32 bd des Batignolles used to be the Turin, but now there is no longer a number 32!

Today this building houses the Théatre Hébertot but apparently it has operated as the Smart Cinema (78 bd des Batignolles).

Famous to all visitors to Paris, the building that houses the Moulin Rouge also operated as the Paramount Montmartre until 1990. The spaces still exist, some of which are used by the Loco nightclub and others for the filming of TV shows etc.

No 64 Bd de Clichy used to be the Agora. Now it operates as...well, it's quite obvious isn't it!

Thanks also to Anne for mentioning this excellent example in Washington DC which was found on Flickr.

The MacArthur Theater opened on Christmas Day, 1946, but now rather sadly it's a discount drugstore. The conversion from cinema to drugstore must have taken about about two hours by the looks of things!

The Battle of Who Could Care Less

(Rue des Haies, 75020)
I’m starting to accept the belief that photographs can steal a soul. For me though, this doesn’t apply to people, but rather to buildings and places. For the second time since starting this blog I was told to stop taking photos, not this time to protect the integrity of a restaurant’s customers, but rather the soul of a bar. And this time I felt as intrusive as I would have done had I been taking photos of a funeral ceremony in a church.

The bar is a tiny splash of colour in a condemned building, and is named simply Buvette. In a working class district, it would previously have been a vital chain in the area’s life and economy. Workers at nearby factories would have popped in for a coffee before a morning shift, then perhaps for a drink at break or at shift’s end. Operating as a general store too, it would also have provided essential produce for the evening’s supper. Today though, people only stop to take photos, and with each shutter click the life slowly drains from the establishment.

It is situated on the Rue des Haies in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, a street which is a fascinating microcosm of Paris as a whole. The name of the street itself clearly refers back to a bucolic past (hedges or hedgerows), when this street would have been an integral part of the village of Charronne on the outskirts of Paris, but I can't help thinking that it is also the second person singular conjugation of the verb to hate.

This is a street living a modern revolution, on the edge of a part of a city that is not sure in which direction to grow. Should we begin now to build upwards, like the buildings in Square Vitruve? Should we pave over the péripherique and embrace neighbouring towns like at the Porte des Lilas? Should we encourage modern construction and innovation or should we preserve the city’s heritage? And just what place is there today for the working classes in Paris?

The street snakes along a medieval path, but is a construction in work along almost its entirety. A new business centre and student hall of residence are soon to open, and there are also units of whitewashed social housing that wouldn’t look out of place in a Greek village as well as many more bourgeois develoments. In the 1960s when the ‘Buvette’ bar and shop was in its prime, it was apparently one of as many as 71 bars in this street, but all the others have since closed or moved on.

The owner of the Buvette wants to sell up, and is thoroughly tired of prying photographers, but is there a future for anyone in being stuck in the past? Clearly I represent a 21st century intruder, a ‘tourist’ from another time and place who could never understand his establishment. The building that houses the bar is primed for redevlopment, and this should include a unit of commerce, but who or what could replace the Buvette today?

It remains though a beautiful snapshot of the 1960s, with not a single fitting being from the 21st century. In the Ville Musée, perhaps we should also make place for relics from more modern eras, places that still have a soul.

Additional Information:
The Rue 89 web-based news and information agency is now based in the Rue des Haies and has produced a very interesting slideshow on the street and bar (in French).