Multi-story brutalism

A year ago on this blog I asked whether they were any true examples of brutalist architecture in Paris. The example I eventually found in the 13th arrondissement was positively gentle alongside this multi-story car park in the suburb of Nogent sur Marne!

It was no surprise to discover that this rather impressive structure is condemned today and will shortly be demolished. The reasons for this removal echo the explanations given by city planners across the world who have justified similar demolitions.

"Le projet de requalification de l’entrée de ville modifiera la physionomie actuelle du quartier
dont l’esthétique au plan urbain ne valorise pas l’image et l’attractivité de Nogent" (the regeneration project for the town entrance will modify the current physionomy of a district whose urban esthetics do not promote the image and attractiveness of Nogent).

In place of this structure will be something far more banal, but this sleek architectural froideur is apparently more acceptable today. Brutalism is still deeply unfashionable amongst city planners, but will it ever make a comeback or will buildings such as this one soon disappear for ever? It would be difficult to class this car park as attractive, but such solid and uncompromising lines certainly make for interesting photo opportunities. I can't help feeling that one day we will regret the passing of this style.

Something for the Weekend (27th - 29th August)

It's already the last weekend in August, and there are many signs that Paris is coming back to life after the summer break. Finding a baguette has become less of a challenge, as has finding some organised events in the city! See the Paris Weekends blog for some suggestions of things to do this weekend.

The Jardin Serge Gainsbourg

"J'suis l'poinçonneur des Lilas, le gars qu'on croise et qu'on n' regarde pas" sang Serge Gainsbourg, so it seems particularly appropriate that a new park at the Porte des Lilas should take his name. In several ways this park represents the new spirit of Paris city planning. During the opening of this eco-friendly park, Gainsbourg's ex-companion, Jane Birkin, pointed out that visitors would be able to picnic on the grass like in England, but it is more for its position that it is of interest.

The park has been built on top of land reclaimed from the périphérique motorway, and stretches from Paris across to the neighbouring town of Les Lilas. It is an example of Paris urbanisation that at last breaks through the physical and psychological barriers of the Thiers fortifications.

Is the park itself of any interest though? It covers a small area, but through intelligent landscaping it creates the illusion of being much larger. The features presently are not of the natural variety, with just a small pond and a few sapling trees currently in place, and it is more the winding concrete passageways and games of mirrors that catch the eye.

Where do the passageways lead? Climb up to the pinnacle of the park to find the answer - a viewing platform over the périphérique motorway. It's a post-modern joke that Serge Gainsbourg himself would have probably appreciated!

The Parc Kellermann, or the view from the top

The Parc Kellermann sits alongside the Poterne des Peupliers, sharing the curve of the city's 19th century Thiers fortifications. The Bievre river passed by here too, winding its way into Paris across the no man's land of the city defences, but today the only water in sight - a pond, a waterfall - is decorative.

The park is a good place to contemplate the Enceinte de Thiers. The photograph below (taken at the Porte de Versailles) shows how these fortifications functioned. Deep trenches and walls up to 10 metres high surrounded the whole city, with gateways (the Portes that still exist today) letting people in and out of Paris. Beyond this area, a buffer of another 250 metres where construction was forbidden, and which came to be known as the 'zone'. Designed and built in the 1840s, the defences proved to be a spectacular failure, notably during the Prussian invasion in 1870. They were eventually destroyed and removed in the 1920s, but in a certain sense they are still very much in place today.

It is very rare to find traces of the fortifications today, but some of the stones are still in place in the Parc Kellermann. Beyond these physical remnants though, the park itself is very typical of the kind of equipment that sprang up in the zone and in place of the old walls and trenches.

Where previously there had been a paranoid emptiness, today there are parks, football pitches, swimming pools and red-brick social housing. The view from the top today is green, across a buffer of sport and leisure, but the psychological circle around the city still exists.

The edge of city is still solid and very clearly defined. From these walls in the Parc Kellermann today we still look out beyond Paris, across a football pitch, the periphèrique motorway, and out to the suburbs. Invaders are no longer to arrive, but the city still looks outwards with suspicion.

These walls were already a sign of the city's desire to dominate and control its neighbours when built. Many of the surrounding villages were annexed by Paris in 1860, but these walls had already extended the reach of the city out beyond them anyway, cutting several of them in half in the process. The villages had become an extra cushion of defence for the centre of Paris.

But what purpose does this ring around the city serve today? When the fortifications were pulled down, the planners simply wanted to fill the space in the cheapest manner possible, and parks and stadiums were judged an ideal solution, particularly in a city that lacked such facilities. By preserving the line of these defences though, the planners also ensured that Paris would still be cut off from its neighbours nearly 100 years afterwards.

Something for the Weekend (20th - 22nd August)

Despite the predicted hot weather this weekend, there is definitely an end of the summer feel about it. Paris Plages ends on Friday and various other events will also be drawing to a close before Paris enters full 'rentrée' mode, so it will be your last chance to get some summer fun before the autumn arrives!

Discover my recommendations on the Paris Weekends blog.