Archive for August, 2015

A Sunday Promenade along the Ourcq Canal

Sunday, August 30th, 2015
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Last Sunday, we joined a walking tour organized by the Seine-Saint-Denis Office of Tourism to learn about the “street art” that lines the walls of the industrial zone of the Ourcq Canal. Led by our guide, Thom-Thom, we wended our way from the Bobigny – Pablo Picasso metro station at the end of line 5 through a park to arrive at the canal.

Walking through Park

A Walk through the Departmental Park
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I was surprised to see how much greenery there is between the metro station and the canal. While we traversed the park, called Parc Départemental de la Bergère, I saw cyclists and joggers. And the people we saw on bicycles weren’t your ordinary Sunday-morning cyclists — they were wearing helmets and cycling shirts and shorts and were mounted on shiny, new velocipedes. The joggers, too, were dressed in sleek athletic wear.

Art across the Canal

Art across the Canal
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Once we got to the canal, Thom-Thom pointed across the water to indicate the wall along which the art was located. To me, it looked like the dreary graffiti that one sees on retaining walls along the tracks of any inter-city train that runs from Paris. Thom-Thom, however, spoke enthusiastically about it and made the following points:

* the people who paint the images do so as a means of leaving their personal stamp on the urban landscape
* the images are painted on decrepit walls of the industrial zone of the canal
* though the “tagging” is illegal, it is largely tolerated because of the location and because the owners of the tagged property do not file complaints with the local police.

Crossing Pedestrian Bridge to See the Art

Crossing Pedestrian Bridge to See the Art
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

We crossed a pedestrian bridge to reach the other side of the canal and proceeded to walk along the wall. Along the way, Thom-Thom talked about the various techniques that street artists use, essentially cans of spray paint, but also roller brushes and stencils. He also talked about the camaraderie that formed among the artists and how groups (called “crews”) would claim an area as “theirs.”

We passed by junkyard dogs who ferociously barked their disapproval of our presence. Happily, they were confined to their compounds by sturdy fences. I noted that one of the dogs barely opened his eyes and continued to lie lazily on the ground. He seemed content to let his companions do the barking. That’s the kind of work that I would want if I were a junkyard dog!

Bicyclists and Boaters on the Canal

Bicyclists and Boaters on the Canal
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Thom-Thom explained some of the finer points of street art. He pointed out that a group of artists called VSD (Vie Social Déplorable) painted its logo here. Many artists prefer using the color silver because it shows up better in the dark, especially in train tunnels.

Vie Social Déplorable

Vie Social Déplorable
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

A Street Artist's Self-portrait

A Street Artist’s Self-portrait
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Gothic Street Art

Gothic Street Art
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Thom-Thom called this cursive art “Gothic” style.

Woman with a  Six-shooter

Woman with a Six-shooter
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

This lovely lady looked rather menacing.

Leaving the Industrial Zone

Leaving the Industrial Zone
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Thom-Thom shared many insights about “tagger” culture and technique on this stretch of the walk. We then left the industrial zone, passing through a tunnel, to continue our promenade down the canal. We now have a new appreciation of street art, thanks to Thom-Thom and the Seine-Saint-Denis Office of Tourism!

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Paris, The End Days
by
Leonard Pitt ©2015

Monday, August 24th, 2015
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Tour Triangle by Herzog and de Meuron

Tour Triangle by Herzog and de Meuron
Artist’s Rendition by Herzog and de Meuron

The question today is, “What will Paris look like a hundred years from now?” Recent developments answer the question.

Central Paris, preserved in its beauty, will sit at the bottom of a bucket surrounded by skyscrapers. The tourist driving into the city will pass signs along the way with arrows pointing towards “Centre Historique.”

Sound far fetched? Sadly not. How many Americans know of Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s plan to transform the city? Fearful that her capital is old fashioned and fast becoming a museum-city paralyzed in its beauty, she has embarked on a vast program dubbed Reinventing Paris to make her capital a showcase for futuristic architecture. And this includes building skyscrapers.

The reader gasps. “Skyscrapers in Paris! Are they crazy? Isn’t that why they built La Defense?” Right on both counts. But La Defense (the business district built to the west of the city) never lived up to expectations. So what they built outside of Paris and didn’t work, they now want to build inside Paris thinking (hoping) it will work.

Inconceivable as it may seem, the French think that skyscrapers will make the city more attractive and draw world-class corporations to restart a flagging economy.

I have news for Madame le Mayor. It won’t work.

But wait, it gets worse.

Samaritaine on Rue de Rivoli

The Samaritaine on Rue de Rivoli before Demolition
Google Street View

Paris is not stuck only on big modern. Small will do as well. The former department store La Samaritaine, comprised of several buildings between the Seine and rue de Rivoli, was closed in 2001 and sold in 2005 to the luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moët-Hennessey). The plan is to convert the entire site into a four-star hotel and many floors of high-end shopping for the 1% tourist trade. To mark this rebirth, a “strong architectural gesture” was desired for the rue de Rivoli side.

The Japanese design group Sanaa was brought in. It designed a building with a seven-story facade of undulating glass extending the entire length of the block. The proposal was dubbed the “shower curtain” by protest groups who filed lawsuits to stop the project.

The New Samaritaine by Sanaa Artist's Rendition by Sanaa

The New Samaritaine by Sanaa
Artist’s Rendition by Sanaa

While litigation moved through the courts, four buildings were torn down: three built in 1852, and one in 1740. Then came the judgment: building permit annulled! All work was halted. A tad late for historic Paris.

The Paris City Plan, it was pointed out, states that new construction in Paris must not rupture the existing urban fabric. Supporters of the glass facade argued there would be no rupture. The glass would reflect the Haussmann buildings across the street. LVMH filed an appeal. The Mayor, horrified at the annulment, did not hesitate to put pressure in the right places and months later the court fulfilled her heart’s desire. Decision reversed. Paris will have its shower curtain after all.

To ensure that a boondoggle of this sort doesn’t happen again, Mayor Hidalgo has since proposed changes to the Paris City Plan to give wider berth to her plans to build modern and tall in Paris.

Once completed, the new Samaritaine facade will surely have a luster of newness. But it won’t last. It can’t last. Like Les Halles before it, this stretch of rue de Rivoli is destined to become the site of future regret in Paris. Sure as gravity.

A majority of Parisians are against this foisting of a modernity on Paris that can only fail. It is remarkable that citizens don’t amass by the thousands in front of City Hall to protect their jewel and stop it from becoming Dubai West.

Modernity has always had a hard time in Paris. The conversion of the old central market, Les Halles, the 59-story Maine-Montparnasse tower, and the mini-Manhattan within view of the Eiffel Tower (known as the Front de Seine) are all admitted failures. Each project in its turn showed Paris to be a living organism. The attempt to graft did not take. The host rejected the foreign body.

Paris will always be ready for the Rick Steves photo op. Tourists will continue to flock and will find plenty to love. But as that subtle membrane containing the city in its most delicate aspects – the low Paris skyline – is punctured by skyscrapers and the historic fabric of the city is ripped by an inappropriate modernity, one day the experienced Paris visitor will walk down a familiar boulevard and remark how everything in the beloved city looks the same but, oh, how different it all feels.

Did someone say, “We’ll always have Paris?” Hmmm . . .

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Leonard Pitt is an author, actor, and teacher. He lived in Paris for seven years in the 1960s and knew nothing about the city. It was only much later, in the 1990s, when he was so shocked at what he finally learned that he did not know that he started reading and researching everything he could about Paris and its history. And as someone once said, “If you want to learn about something, write a book about it.” Leonard has written three books about Paris. His first, Walks Through Lost Paris was a bestseller in the City of Light. In addition he has written, Paris, A Journey Through Time, and Paris Postcards, the Golden Age. He has a new book due out later this year, a memoir, My Brain On Fire, Paris and Other Obsessions by Counterpoint Press.

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Paris, The End Days
by
Leonard Pitt ©2015