Almost answering any sensible reader’s question “So how do we and the architects progress?” after piling through his 1998 book Cities and Civilisation, Peter Hall mulls the manifest shortcomings of London’s urban experience in 1998 and writes that cities are “superbly worth living in” - and that those residents who can no longer abide them are always free to flee to the suburbs.
No blueprint, then – or at least, not on this occasion. He calls for policies to help the refugees: and in April 2009, no less, the public can see the results of President Sarkozy’s 10-architect show called Grand Paris 2030 which focuses on greening both the centre and - notably, for Paris - its suburbs.
More details about the show can be seen at ArchitectureLab:
http://architecturelab.net/2009/03/15/ten-scenarios-for-%E2%80%98grand-paris%E2%80%99-metropolis-now-up-for-public-debate/
Casting two fingers at UK planning’s holy of holies - the post-war legislation that staunched ribbon development just in time before SuperMac’s “you never had it so good Britain got into its stride” - one of Sarko’s architects, Antoine Grumbach, suggests Paris should extend north-westwards along the Seine to the Channel harbour at Le Havre.
True, Havre needs all the help it can get, and the design cheekily reproduces Buonapart’s idea of “one single city, to Havre via Rouen”.
Like a debutant marathon runner, could “civilisation in the long” survive such a long track, delivering a series of delights to the refugees? Away from the exhibition, surely it is better to focus on the 20:20 vision of petit projets.
Peter Hall in his book relates that a Parisian prefet called Autrant recognised in 1920 that many of the capital’s quartiers were ilots insalubres. His colleagues set about buying and demolishing ilot numero un.
The demolition of this numero un (by today’s standard) average-sized plot was not completed until 1935…with the site empty and vacant until 1972….when Rogers and Piano came along and created Centre Pompidou.
Hall tacitly acknowledges Paris’ determination, post-war, to create better transport has been successful.
He cites an architect, Delouvrier, as the genius of the piece – along with the leadership and (20:20?) vision of …De Gaulle.
But the mix - in 2009, and 2030 - of Sarko, Buonapart and Grumbach? Does not ring true.
No blueprint, then – or at least, not on this occasion. He calls for policies to help the refugees: and in April 2009, no less, the public can see the results of President Sarkozy’s 10-architect show called Grand Paris 2030 which focuses on greening both the centre and - notably, for Paris - its suburbs.
More details about the show can be seen at ArchitectureLab:
http://architecturelab.net/2009/03/15/ten-scenarios-for-%E2%80%98grand-paris%E2%80%99-metropolis-now-up-for-public-debate/
Casting two fingers at UK planning’s holy of holies - the post-war legislation that staunched ribbon development just in time before SuperMac’s “you never had it so good Britain got into its stride” - one of Sarko’s architects, Antoine Grumbach, suggests Paris should extend north-westwards along the Seine to the Channel harbour at Le Havre.
True, Havre needs all the help it can get, and the design cheekily reproduces Buonapart’s idea of “one single city, to Havre via Rouen”.
Like a debutant marathon runner, could “civilisation in the long” survive such a long track, delivering a series of delights to the refugees? Away from the exhibition, surely it is better to focus on the 20:20 vision of petit projets.
Peter Hall in his book relates that a Parisian prefet called Autrant recognised in 1920 that many of the capital’s quartiers were ilots insalubres. His colleagues set about buying and demolishing ilot numero un.
The demolition of this numero un (by today’s standard) average-sized plot was not completed until 1935…with the site empty and vacant until 1972….when Rogers and Piano came along and created Centre Pompidou.
Hall tacitly acknowledges Paris’ determination, post-war, to create better transport has been successful.
He cites an architect, Delouvrier, as the genius of the piece – along with the leadership and (20:20?) vision of …De Gaulle.
But the mix - in 2009, and 2030 - of Sarko, Buonapart and Grumbach? Does not ring true.
(More details, please see www.paris.fr/ )
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