PARIS
The City of Lights
What makes Paris so romantic?
- Lights
- Wide roads
- Beautiful cafes and patisseries
- Monuments are well-appreciated until today!
- Neoclassical structures
- Parks
- Town Squares
Eiffel Tower
- Iron lady as it is made of iron
- Has restaurants on first two levels
- Was repainted as it was rusting at least 19 times since built
- https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8578458,2.2933869,3a,90y,350.4h,75.27t/data=!
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Palais Garnier in Paris
- Found in the center of the 9th arrondissement
- Still used for theatres
- https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8717611,2.331764,2a,75y,168.28h,73.49t/data=!
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Arc de Triomphe
- Sits in the city’s largest square
- Product of the reign of Napoleon III
- With names of soldiers of the great war
- Representation of how the wealthy make monuments to represent their wealth
- https://goo.gl/maps/7goGMNDwYwd9NNaE9
Pantheon
- Mausoleum for influential French individuals
- Only 5 are women but feminists are fighting for more women
- https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8717611,2.331764,2a,75y,168.28h,73.49t/data=!
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THE LOUVRE
- Mausoleum for influential French individuals
- Only 5 are women but feminists are fighting for more women
- https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8717611,2.331764,2a,75y,168.28h,73.49t/data=!
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Old Paris
- Medieval structures
- Dirty facades
- Narrow streets
- Open gutters for sewage, which carry disease
- Over crowded
1350s
BLACK DEATH 1348 (PARIS)
● Paris was vulnerable to plague due to narrow and
cramp roads and open gutter system
● Killed ⅓ of its inhabitants
Haussmannization
The gist
- By George Eugene Haussmann (law, not an architect)
- 2 decades
- Demolished the ugly parts and ruined traditions (no matter what)
- Replaced them with beautiful cream colored structures, parks, and squares
The plan
- Fix sewer systems
- Wider boulevards
- Gas lighting
- Monuments
- Updated Facades
- Reorganized symmetrical road system
- Open public squares
- Division of Paris into districts
Roads were well planned
- Main roads passed monuments and major buildings
- Grid with diagonal connections radiating out
- Wide boulevards & avenues allowed fast access for troops
Sewers
- Separation of potable and waste (prevented spread of disease which led to it being a
tourist attraction)
- Iron-piping from industrial revolution
- 2015 big paris attack plumbing (wake up call for the security planning anti terrorism
planning)
Facade
- Neo-classical
- Wide street allowed higher buildings to accommodate residentials
- Balconies on second floors
- Shops below
The Price to Pay for Being so Aesthetic!
- 350,000 people were evicted
- Poorer people (the working class and below) were pushed to the outer and suburbs
- Poor people’s neighborhood were destroyed
- Rich people were favored and got comfortable living.
Paris in 2020 post PANDEMIC
- Mayor Anne Hidalgo will not allow cars to enter the city as it is a big cause of
pollution and will worsen the health crisis
- Bike lanes, buses, and social distancing
- Wide boulevards will be of true use now
Paris in 2020 GREEN MOTIVES
- In a compact city like Paris that also likes to keep its bare areas bare, they want to be
more green by using ⅓ of the buildings roofs as urban agriculture
- Not only is this aesthetic, but also very good for sustainability of the city
But it does look pretty romantic, doesn’t it?
- Things to pick up from this:
- Infrastructures are important in planning (Remember to design with quality)
- Urban planning requires both aesthetic and function.
- These beautiful streets paved way to better sewer systems and better access as well.
- In the Philippines where the majority is poor, remember to design with them in mind as well. Paris may
be beautiful now, but imagine the many lives its ruined to get to this. We can also look at what we
currently have and work with it like how they are working into being more green.
Fun fact: Did you know Paris is called “The City of
Lights not because of the sparkling boulevards, but
because in Mid 17th Century, Louis XIV had lamps set up
and windows lit all over Paris after the prolonged war, in
the hopes of a safer city at night?
References
Bawatneh, Shayma. (2017). Planning of Paris city (1853 – 1870)/ Case study. 10.13140/RG.2.2.13828.78720. Planning of Paris city
(1853 – 1870)/ Case Study
Cuttle, J. (2018, January 22). How Paris Got Its Nickname, 'The City of Light'. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/paris/articles/real-reason-paris-called-city-lights/
The revolution that built the streets of Paris. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2020, from
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130722-revolution-in-paris-street-design
7 facts about the Black Death of 1348 in Paris. (2019, December 19). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/paris/7-facts-about-the-black-death-of-1348-in-paris/
Parisculteurs, L., ItNeverEnds/pixabay, Verde, V., Space10, Project, P., Burton, V., & Agriculture, U. (n.d.). The Plan to Turn Paris
Green, Literally, by 2020: Urbanity. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://en.reset.org/blog/plan-turn-paris-green-literally-2020-07022018
10 Historical Monuments in Paris. (2019, November 27). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/paris/10-historical-monuments-in-paris/
Arc de triomphe
