Manhattan? Dubai? Nah... Paris! Yesterday evening, in the heart of the 14th arrondissement ! Contrary to a popular belief, Paris is not all about Haussmannian buildings, but also about new(er) architecture like this building that I came across with yesterday. It's always a big controversy here: must we keep the "traditional Paris" as it is (leading most of the time to tearing down the whole structure of a building, but its facade!) or must we erect buildings that match their time, like this one for instance. I don't have the answer to that...
Modern Paris and timeless Paris can co-exist. Not side by side perhaps - but off the beaten track is okay with me!
ReplyDeleteS/B beaten path! Apparently I'm off-track!
ReplyDeleteWe pass by this on our way to our layover hotel around the corner, but it never looked THIS good! Nice EVERYTHING about this picture.
ReplyDeletePhx2cdg
True, it's probably very near to your hotel.
DeleteI readily admit I have never been a fan of Modernism. I realized over time that it is because it strikes me as lifeless, uninviting, merely an assembly of geometric shapes. Whoopee. No soul. I understand, I guess, the visual design attributes, but it makes for a cold emotional experience. Most Modernism is guided primarily by economics--more leasable space--but also by the design desire for more light--and thus more glass--and the desire to be different from what came before. I know people who love the "clean" look. It's and aesthetic choice, an aesthetic feeling. Beu deu geu deu. Pfft. http://www.frogwithablog.com/2007/03/23/learn-french-in-5-minutes-and-36-seconds-thanks-to-fwab-tv/#comment-20216
ReplyDeleteI just visited Paris for the first time and completely fell in love with this wonderful city!!!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLQgtGkJiOc
i wish it was more of a controversy here in the US !
ReplyDeleteTo me, the "older" architecture (before Modernism) seems to have more character. Some modern buildings are intriguing, but others just look like boxes. Some cities find a decent balance between the old and the new.
ReplyDeleteThat's a super photo. It's as though you ordered the light and the clouds, and they obeyed.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Well I did not order them, but I was glad they showed up!
DeleteNew and old have to live together.
ReplyDeleteModern or not, they have their fascination, is the contrast that creates the beauty and appreciation.
ReplyDeleteIn New Haven Connecticut they had the good sense to tear down their "Brutalist" landmark, and the whole style was invented by a Yale professor of architecture in the first place. When buildings are designed to pander to someone's pet theory of modern life -- usually only a shallow desire to be different from the past -- you get a structure that alienates the people who have to use it or live near it. Isn't it possible that many of the "problems" of architecture (scale, beauty, surface efficiency) have already been solved?
ReplyDeleteI forgot to congratulate you on eight years of a fabulous blog. Your blog makes the internet worthwhile to me!
"Your blog makes the internet worthwhile to me!"
ReplyDelete>>> Vivian, you're making me blush ;-)
Eric
ReplyDeleteIs this building part of the cité universitaire?
No, no, even though it's in the 14th arrondissement.
DeleteI think this is on the other side of the pheriperique. I remember seeing something similar from my window when I used to stay in Maison des Provinces de France.
ReplyDeleteYes outside the périphérique anything can happen ;-))
DeleteHow about if they keep the classic Haussmannian buildings, and put up some attractive but affordable housing—if that's not too much of an oxymoron—in the outer arrondissements (so that a person who dreams of living in Paris again might ever have a chance of realizing that dream)?
ReplyDeleteAffordable housing? Er... Yeah, I heard of that, in the 30's... ;-)
DeleteI agree with those who say that the 'modern' lack something. Lack character, soul, lack warmth. I'm only at the beginning stages of planning our trip to Paris {sadly it is several years away - our children are not yet old enough to be left for 3 months, but they will be in their late teens by then}and I'm so enamoured by all things French. For me, it is a recent love affair - the first blush of romance, I guess you could say. A friend went to Paris for several weeks about 2 years ago and her tales of her trip, her amazing, amazing writing and pictures meant I was lost, right away. Desperate to go, to soak up the art and tread in the footsteps of the writers I revere so much.
ReplyDeleteI have just discovered your blog and I'm so happy to have found you.
Well Melissa, I'm happy you found my blog too ;-) Welcome to the wonderful wordl of ParisDailyPhoto ;-))
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