Zeitschrift
archithese 5.2012
Paris
Paris is one of those cities whose myth threatens to suffocate its reality. Paris is the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Montmartre; it is Monet, Manet, Rodin, van Gogh and Picasso; it is Balzac, Flaubert and Walter Benjamin; it is Haussmann and Le Corbusier. To all the paintings, books and attractions can be added innumerable photographs and films, all of which implant a certain image of Paris and its citizens in the global cultural mind.
But is there another image? The situation we see today appears almost static. Over recent decades little has been heard of the architectural scene in the French capital. However, because Paris is still one of the great world metropolises that enter into global and architectural trials of strength, and the city continues to reach out to us and arouse our curiosity time and time again with the works of individual architects, we suspected we could see the early signs of a new scene developing. This, our optimistic notion, has been consistently repudiated in Paris.French individualism demands its tribute, and yet, it is not only the (famous) „survivors“ – Nouvel, Portzamparc, Perault … – who change the image of the city. Seismic vibrations are palpable.
This issue is certainly no reader that simply collates everything ever thought or written about the historic richness of Paris. Neither is it a city handbook, predominated by images seeking to assign Parisian architectural happenings to a group, a tendency, a national architecture or a style, edited in the latest fashion. This issue of archithese is an examination and bringing together of current developments, which are sometimes wonderful, frequently colourful, from time to time trashy and occasionally deeply shocking, but in relation to the state of our cities and the production of European architecture, often paradigmatic and symptomatic. That quality is characteristic of the great cities of the world: Their significance extends far beyond their borders; they form a self-contained condensed cosmos, into which the observer can peer very deeply.
In this issue, Paris does not end at the city limits marked by the Boulevard Périphérique; whoever ignores the problems of the troubled suburbs degrades the romantic picture of a historic, centripetal city, which Paris certainly but not exclusively is. The articles therefore lead on to La Défense, into the Billancourt urban development or into one of the large postmodern residential communities in Marne-la-Vallée, thereby uniting the urban planning strategies from the sixties with those extending up to today. The critical observations from inside are added to the view from outside.
Interviews with criticat, AWP and Philippe Rahm overcome the usual description of contemporary circumstances, expanding opinions and perceptions. Portraits of individual architectural consultancies and buildings keep the discussions firmly based in practice, while giving subtle pointers for their suppositions.
And the editorial team, who put so much effort into the production of this issue, recognises that there is no real substitute for first-hand enquiry and has reworked its Paris map for this research trip and enclosed it for all our readers to make their own future excursions.
The editors
The editorial team would like to thank Résidence Nell and 9 Hotel for their hospitality in Paris during the excursion in preparation for this issue.
04 Editorial
Architektur Aktuell
14 It’s about pleasure, not about being funny. Stéphane Maupin & Partners: RATP Centre de Maintenance und M-Building | Hannes Mayer
22 Die neue Zweckmässigkeit. Jakob MacFarlane: Les Docks | Hannes Mayer
Paris
30 Paris – Aktuelle Projekte
36 Postindustrielle Transformation. ZAC Île Seguin – Rives de Seine | Hubertus Adam
40 Palais de Justice als Stadtkrone. ZAC Clichy Batignolles | Hubertus Adam
42 Critical cruising through Paris with criticat. Architecture in the capital city, between design, money and politics | Hannes Mayer im Gespräch mit Françoise Fromonot und Valéry Didelon
50 Über den Gleisen, an der Seine. ZAC Paris Rive Gauche | Hubertus Adam
54 Von der Seine zur Seine. ZAC La Défense Seine-Arche | Hubertus Adam
56 «La Défense ist Frankreich, nicht Paris» | Hubertus Adam im Gespräch mit Matthias Armengaud und Simon Frommenwiler
60 Paradigmenwechsel in Grün. Gärtnerische Tradition und stadtplanerische Utopie | Frank Maier-Solgk
66 Patchwork und Pastiche. Vier Projekte von Edouard François | Hubertus Adam
70 Mamorbecken für die Delfintherapie. OMA: Le Dauphin | Hannes Mayer
72 Occupy la Maison de verre. A User’s Guide for Living, Literally, in a Glass House | Robert Melvin Rubin
76 Französischer Kontextualismus. Ahnenforschung in der jüngsten Vergangenheit | Vanessa Grossman
82 Interieurs des 21. Jahrhunderts. Ein Ausflug nach Marne-la-Vallée | Anne Kockelkorn
88 The Physiology of Architecture. A conversation with Philippe Rahm on Paris and Switzerland
Rubriken
92 The Olympics. London 2012: A Walk in the Park | Oliver Domeisen
100 fsai
110 Neues aus der Industrie
118 Lieferbare Hefte
120 Vorschau und Impressum
But is there another image? The situation we see today appears almost static. Over recent decades little has been heard of the architectural scene in the French capital. However, because Paris is still one of the great world metropolises that enter into global and architectural trials of strength, and the city continues to reach out to us and arouse our curiosity time and time again with the works of individual architects, we suspected we could see the early signs of a new scene developing. This, our optimistic notion, has been consistently repudiated in Paris.French individualism demands its tribute, and yet, it is not only the (famous) „survivors“ – Nouvel, Portzamparc, Perault … – who change the image of the city. Seismic vibrations are palpable.
This issue is certainly no reader that simply collates everything ever thought or written about the historic richness of Paris. Neither is it a city handbook, predominated by images seeking to assign Parisian architectural happenings to a group, a tendency, a national architecture or a style, edited in the latest fashion. This issue of archithese is an examination and bringing together of current developments, which are sometimes wonderful, frequently colourful, from time to time trashy and occasionally deeply shocking, but in relation to the state of our cities and the production of European architecture, often paradigmatic and symptomatic. That quality is characteristic of the great cities of the world: Their significance extends far beyond their borders; they form a self-contained condensed cosmos, into which the observer can peer very deeply.
In this issue, Paris does not end at the city limits marked by the Boulevard Périphérique; whoever ignores the problems of the troubled suburbs degrades the romantic picture of a historic, centripetal city, which Paris certainly but not exclusively is. The articles therefore lead on to La Défense, into the Billancourt urban development or into one of the large postmodern residential communities in Marne-la-Vallée, thereby uniting the urban planning strategies from the sixties with those extending up to today. The critical observations from inside are added to the view from outside.
Interviews with criticat, AWP and Philippe Rahm overcome the usual description of contemporary circumstances, expanding opinions and perceptions. Portraits of individual architectural consultancies and buildings keep the discussions firmly based in practice, while giving subtle pointers for their suppositions.
And the editorial team, who put so much effort into the production of this issue, recognises that there is no real substitute for first-hand enquiry and has reworked its Paris map for this research trip and enclosed it for all our readers to make their own future excursions.
The editors
The editorial team would like to thank Résidence Nell and 9 Hotel for their hospitality in Paris during the excursion in preparation for this issue.
04 Editorial
Architektur Aktuell
14 It’s about pleasure, not about being funny. Stéphane Maupin & Partners: RATP Centre de Maintenance und M-Building | Hannes Mayer
22 Die neue Zweckmässigkeit. Jakob MacFarlane: Les Docks | Hannes Mayer
Paris
30 Paris – Aktuelle Projekte
36 Postindustrielle Transformation. ZAC Île Seguin – Rives de Seine | Hubertus Adam
40 Palais de Justice als Stadtkrone. ZAC Clichy Batignolles | Hubertus Adam
42 Critical cruising through Paris with criticat. Architecture in the capital city, between design, money and politics | Hannes Mayer im Gespräch mit Françoise Fromonot und Valéry Didelon
50 Über den Gleisen, an der Seine. ZAC Paris Rive Gauche | Hubertus Adam
54 Von der Seine zur Seine. ZAC La Défense Seine-Arche | Hubertus Adam
56 «La Défense ist Frankreich, nicht Paris» | Hubertus Adam im Gespräch mit Matthias Armengaud und Simon Frommenwiler
60 Paradigmenwechsel in Grün. Gärtnerische Tradition und stadtplanerische Utopie | Frank Maier-Solgk
66 Patchwork und Pastiche. Vier Projekte von Edouard François | Hubertus Adam
70 Mamorbecken für die Delfintherapie. OMA: Le Dauphin | Hannes Mayer
72 Occupy la Maison de verre. A User’s Guide for Living, Literally, in a Glass House | Robert Melvin Rubin
76 Französischer Kontextualismus. Ahnenforschung in der jüngsten Vergangenheit | Vanessa Grossman
82 Interieurs des 21. Jahrhunderts. Ein Ausflug nach Marne-la-Vallée | Anne Kockelkorn
88 The Physiology of Architecture. A conversation with Philippe Rahm on Paris and Switzerland
Rubriken
92 The Olympics. London 2012: A Walk in the Park | Oliver Domeisen
100 fsai
110 Neues aus der Industrie
118 Lieferbare Hefte
120 Vorschau und Impressum
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