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Home , Avenue Foch, Centre Pompidou, Front de Seine, Grande Arche, Grand Louvre, Jean Goujon

’s 20th-century history splits rather neatly in two halves, before and after the Second World War. Like the century, this walking tour is also divided into two parts –– one on the west side of the city, focusing on the first half of the century, and one on the east side focusing on the second half.

Walking Tour A - This part of the walk Walking Tour B - This section of the extends from the and Petit walk runs between the Tour Palais, built for the 1900 Universal and the Bibliothèque Exposition, to the Palais de Tokyo and Nationale-François Mitterrand. Many Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 of the modern and post-modern International Exposition just before World buildings you’ll see on this walk, such as War II. Stops include a wild-looking art the itself and the nouveau mansion and the almost Opéra , were quite controversial modern-looking Théâtre des Champs when they were constructed. You’ll get Elysées. The walk is set in the elegant a chance to judge them for yourself. 8th and 16th arrondissements, home to You’ll also see parts of two late 20th- the avenue des Champs Elysées and the century redevelopment projects, Bercy fashionable avenue Montaigne. and .

Start: Champs Elysées/Clémenceau Start: Tour Montparnasse Métro Station (Métro: Champs (Métro: Montparnasse- Elysées/ Clémenceau) Bienvenüe) Finish: Palais de Chaillot Finish: Bibliothèque Nationale-Mitterrand (Métro: Trocadéro) (Métro: Quai de la Gare) Distance: 3 miles Distance: 3.5 miles plus a Métro ride Time: 2.5 - 4 hours Time: 3 - 4 hours Best Days: Wednesday - Saturday Best Days: Tuesday - Sunday Copyright © Ann Branston 2011 HISTORY After the war, became head of a provisional government. When the Fourth Republic was Politics and Economics created with a chief executive de Gaulle considered to be too weak, he retired. He remained politically engaged but on the During the first part of the 20th century, France was ravaged by two world wars sidelines until 1958. By that point, France had lost and left impoverished and demoralized. As a result, the country spent much of Indochina, Morocco and Tunisia and was on the brink of civil the second half of the century recovering its political pride and economic war over the issue of Algerian independence. The National prosperity. Assembly asked de Gaulle to take control of the government and empowered him to write a new constitution. He created France had no direct national interest in the conflict in the Balkans that ignited the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency, granted World War I. Following the assassination in Serbia of Austrian archduke Francis independence to Algeria, and set about trying to return Ferdinand, France was drawn into the war by a combination of circumstances France to the status of a great power with a key role in the pervading all of –– interlocking alliances, nationalism, rigid military Cold War. In pursuit of this objective, he invested in nuclear Charles planning and the mistaken belief that any war would be brief. After France weapons, pulled France out of NATO’s military command, de Gaulle declared war, Germany invaded France by way of Belgium. German war plans and resisted American and British efforts to influence events presumed a quick victory in France followed by a rapid shift of forces to a in Europe. Russian front. But France put up much stiffer resistance than Germany had expected. The war along the French border with Belgium evolved into a long Ultimately, de Gaulle’s decreasing popularity, coupled with widespread economic bloody defensive struggle with battles along the Marne and Somme rivers and in unrest and a violent student uprising in 1968, led to the end of his government. places like Verdun. By the end of the war, two million Frenchmen had died and He retired in 1969 and died a year later. From 1969 on, France has fluctuated the country was impoverished and exhausted. In the Treaty of Versailles, between conservative and liberal governments. , de Gaulle’s Premier Georges Clémenceau extracted some measure of revenge against Prime Minister, replaced him and served as President from 1969-1974 when Germany, demanding huge reparations and claiming Alsace and Lorraine. But Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, another conservative, was elected. In 1981, instead of the buffer zone he wanted in the Rhineland, Clémenceau obtained only François Mitterrand, a Socialist, became President. He was reelected in 1988. vague (and soon forgotten) promises from France’s allies that they would protect In 1995, , the conservative Mayor of Paris replaced Mitterrand. France from an incursion by Germany. During the course of the 20th century, France went through many economic ups Between the two world wars, France experienced a high degree of political and and downs. After being devastated economically by the First World War, the economic instability. By the mid 1930’s, the country was in no position to country went through a brief period of prosperity in the 1920’s before being hit by respond forcefully to Hitler’s growing aggression. France, along with Britain, the Great Depression in the 1930’s. A liberal coalition government, the Popular failed to act as Hitler rebuilt the German military in 1935, sent troops into the Front, tried to address the problems of the Depression by measures such as a demilitarized Rhineland in 1936, annexed Austria in 1938, and occupied the minimum wage and a forty-hour work week but was largely unsuccessful. Sudetenland and then the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Finally, when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, France and After the Second World War, the Marshall Plan helped the country rebuild its Britain declared war. World War II began slowly during infrastructure and industrial base, ushering in a period of dramatic economic the winter, but in the spring of 1940, Hitler launched a growth in the 50’s and 60’s. But economic problems contributed to de Gaulle’s surprise “blitzkrieg” (lightning war) against France. By downfall at the end of the 1960’s, and at the end of the 1970’s were the reason June, France surrendered. The Germans occupied François Mitterrand’s Socialist government was elected. The Socialists raised three-fifths of France. In the rest of France, they the minimum wage, shortened the work week to thirty-nine hours, and installed Marshal Pétain as head of what became nationalized many major banks and industries. These measures did little to known as Vichy France, initiating the most disgraceful improve the economy. By his second term, Mitterrand became much more period in France’s history. The Vichy government economically conservative. collaborated with the Nazis. A small number of French citizens, led from London by Charles de Gaulle and the Throughout the second half of the 20th century, France’s Free French, formed a spirited resistance movement. economy was helped overall by its active participation in The war in France lasted until 1944 when the Allies what began in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel landed on France’s Normandy beaches in June and Community and evolved in 1994 into the European Union , liberated Paris in August. a full fledged economic and monetary union.

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 2 Philosophy, Science and Religion Distinctly began to develop before World War II and became the dominant style for office and Throughout the 20th century, philosophers and scientists created more and more large-scale residential buildings after the war. Modern uncertainty about God, religion, rationality, predictability in nature, and the architecture is sometimes referred to as the international superiority of Western culture. Sigmund Freud’s ideas about the human style, a term coined by the Museum of Modern Art in New unconscious, developed in the late 19th century, spread widely in the 20th York in 1932 in recognition of modern architecture’s growing century and seriously undermined belief in the rational nature of human beings. worldwide acceptance. The guiding principles of modern Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity challenged previous Newtonian belief in a architecture were that the form of a building should be mechanized, orderly natural world. Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principal determined by its function and building materials (most as applied to electrons further eroded confidence in the predictability of nature. often steel, glass and reinforced concrete), and that decorative references to history or tradition should be The horrors of the world wars, of course, seriously undermined previous beliefs eliminated. French architect Charles-Edouard Jeannerette in an “age of progress” guided by rational human beings. Following the two (Le Corbusier) was one of the best known advocates for wars, French existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus Office Towers modern buildings, which he described as “machines for gave voice to a growing sense of disillusion and uncertainty. According to their La Defense living.” philosophy of existentialism, the world is absurd and without meaning. Man in the absence of God is alone in the universe with no past, no future, no hope and By the 1970’s a backlash developed in many parts of the world against modern only himself to rely on. Following Camus and Sartre, other French philosophers architecture. In Paris, high-rise buildings were a particular focus of criticism but such as took the existentialists’ ideas about free will and there were other concerns as well. Modern buildings were also criticized for personal responsibility even further. Their philosophies looked at ways people being too sterile, boxy and boring, and for violating the historical context and create their own meaning within their own cultural contexts. They argued that traditions of the city. there is no fixed truth or universal meaning. By the 1980’s, a new, slightly more ornamental and harmonious post-modern style of architecture became Architecture popular in many parts of the world. Architects in Paris never adopted the extremes of ornamentation of post- In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the modern architecture. However, buildings designed in Paris architectural style evolved as a reaction against the formal toward the end of the century, sometimes described as “beaux arts” neoclassical style. Art nouveau is neo-modern, were not as tall, were somewhat more distinguished by long curved lines, stylized vegetal and ornamented, and were generally more respectful of their floral motifs, and asymmetry. In 1900, the glass and iron urban and historical context than their modern railings and canopies at the entrances to the Paris Métro, Institut du predecessors. designed by , became the most visible art Monde Arab Paris Métro nouveau structures in Paris. However, art nouveau Many of these late 20th-century buildings were part of a Station remained in vogue for less than a decade and is generally cultural and architectural renewal program of “grands seen in retrospect as more of a decorative than an projets” President François Mitterrand sponsored architectural style. beginning in 1982. The projects included major renovations to the Musée d’Orsay and the The stripped-down classical and styles became (including construction of the Pyramid), and many new popular during the jazz age of the 1920’s and early 1930’s. buildings including the Institut du Monde Arabe, the Opéra Stripped-down classical’s streamlined styling was facilitated Bastille, the at La Défense, the Ministry of by new reinforced concrete building technology. Art deco’s Finance building in Bercy, the Bibliothèque Nationale- decorative features were often taken from ancient cultures, François Mitterrand, and four major projects in La Villette. especially Egypt, following the discovery of King Tut’s tomb With these projects, President Mitterrand left his mark on in 1922. The term was coined from the 1925 Exposition 20th-century Paris in much the same way France’s kings Palais de Chaillot and emperors had in previous centuries. des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels. La Villette Géode

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 3 Growth and Development In the early 1990’s, La Villette, a major urban park, culture and entertainment project, was developed on the In all previous centuries, the population of Paris grew as people migrated in from northeastern edge of the city on the site of former outlying areas. In the 20th century that trend was reversed. After growing to a slaughterhouses and wholesale markets The complex high of 2,906,700 in 1920, the population decreased to 2,125,200 in 1999. At the includes a science museum, an exhibition hall, and a music center. same time, the suburbs grew dramatically. In 1921, the balance between the city La Villette and its suburbs was about even. By 1999, only 20% of the region’s 10,952,000 residents lived in Paris. By the mid 1990’s, two other redevelopment projects were initiated on the east side with low and mid-rise buildings. The Bercy redevelopment project on the Transportation was one of the big stories of 20th - Right Bank at the eastern edge of the city, is on the site century Paris. The Paris Métro opened in July, 1900. Bercy of 19th-century wine and spirit warehouses. Like La By the end of the century, fourteen lines served the Villette, it was developed around a major urban park. city. A regional rail system, the RER, was built in the The Paris Rive Gauche project began just slightly later 1960’s to serve the suburbs. The automobile also across the river on the Left Bank. It consolidates aging became a dominant feature of city life. There were industrial sites and rail yards in the districts of Tolbiac, 3800 cars registered in Paris in 1901 and 880,000 by Austerlitz and Massena into a large new residential and 1995. The boulevard Périphérique was completed Paris Rive Gauche commercial neighborhood. along the pathway of the previous century’s Thiers Wall becoming, in effect, a modern day city wall. The Right 20th Century Paris - Growth and Development Bank expressway was completed in 1967.Construction on a Left Bank expressway reached only a few

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The other big story of 20th-century Paris was not so 0.*#0&-#-( much development but redevelopment. La Défense, the biggest and longest running of all of Paris’ 0.*!(&, redevelopment projects, began just outside the city in /012"34 ('3)$() 5466478664 1958. It is now Europe’s largest commercial business 1&'&")2 district. -.3&' '.,/-( La Défense %&''()

Four redevelopment projects followed La Défense in "*/&'"5() 0&-&") )&"*#2 !"#$ the 1960’s and 1970’s: the Front de , Italie 13, 4(-0&"* '&#"* )&"*#2 +,&-#(- '.,") Maine-Montparnasse and . As these '9:(, %&")&+(& projects evolved, a reaction developed against their 0&"*(2 high rise towers. Work on Italie 13 was stopped in the 0.*#1&-*&))( 1789 0.*#1&-*&))( mid 1970’s after the project was partially completed. &:;8< 6(-!3 !=>8?@: 1&-") Montparnasse Work on Les Halles was stopped before anything was -"/( even built, leaving a huge hole in the ground for years. 4&,!%( After considerable debate, Les Halles finally went +,$#+&"-. ahead in the early 1980’s without the tall buildings originally planned there. After the Les Halles project, no major new projects were built in Paris for almost a ;<114=>";8>?"#8@8> 5A<647013"/B18CDB18E<4 H10=3G"5A<647013G decade. 'A1@41";8>?"F066G Les Halles

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 4 WALKING TOUR A Route Map

RUE DE LABORDE RUE DU HAVRE PLACE RUE SAINT ‐ LAZARE GABRIEL BOULEVARD HAUSSMANN PÉRI RUE DE LA PEPINIERE RUE PLACE ()*+#,#-&' SAINT ‐ BOULEVARD HAUSSMANN AUGUSTIN ËTIE AVENUE DE FRIEDLAND DE COURCELLES Arc de Miromesnil Paris in the 20th Century Triomphe RUE LA BO Havre !"#$"%&' MALESHERBES

AV MYRON T HERRICK Start: Champs Elysées-ClémenceauAVENUE FOCH Métro AVENUE DES CHAMPS ELYS PLACE CHASSAIGNE 1. Champs Elysées/ Clémenceau Métro Station GUYON

2. Avenue des Champs Elysées AVENUE FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT RUE DU BER 3. É 4. Grand Palais 5. Pont Alexandre III ÉES RUE DE LA PAIX 6. Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste

7. Notre-Dame-de-la-ConsolationAVENUE SAINT HONOR La 8. 29 Avenue Rapp and 3 Square Rapp

AVENUE 9. Théâtre des Champs Elysées BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES 10. Avenue Montaigne AVENUE KL É RUE FRANÇOIS 1ER 11. Palais de Tokyo 12. Palais d’Iéna CHAMPS ELYS 13. Palais de Chaillot Champs Elysées Finish: Trocacéro Métro Clemenceau (Start) RUE ROYAL WER ÉES ENHO 1/2 EIS Hôtel GÉN RUE DU Crillon AV Hôtel de RUE FRANÇOIS 1ER AVENUE MONTAIGNE la Marine 10 PLACE FRANÇOIS Grand Palais 31&) 1ER 3 4 Palais BER Théâtre des É Champs Elysées 6 Cathédrale AVENUE PIERRE SERBIR AVENUE JEAN GOUJONSaint‐Jean‐Baptiste Obelisk Alma 9 7 AV WINSTON CHURCHILL RUE DE LONGCHAMP Marceau Notre‐Dame‐de‐ PLACE 2"4!5'-52"&5' COURS D’IÉNA PLACE DE LA AVENUE DU PRESIDENT WILSON11 COURS PLACE 12 Palais de Tokyo DE VOIE GEORGES POMPIDOU Iéna L’ALMA Palais ÉNA d’Iéna PONT DE L’ALMA AVENUE KL YORK 5 Jardin des AVENUE DU PRESIDENT WILSON Trocadéro NEW AVENUE D’I Tuileries (Finish) QUAI DES TUILERIES

PONT ALEXANDRE PLACE DU III TROCADERO PONT DE LA 13 QUAI D’ORSAY CONCORDE Palais de Chaillot DE QUAI D’ORSAY QUAI ANATOLE

AVENUE BOSQUET Assemblée BOULEVARD SAINT ‐ GERMAIN Assemblée Nationale PASSERELLE DE Nationale SOLFERINO

RUE DE L’UNIVERSIT É RUE DE L’UNIVERSITR ESNAULT PELTERIE RUE A BRIANT AVENUE É FRANCE Invalides Hôtel de Salm/ Musée de la Légion d’Honneur Jardin du TrocaderoPONT D’I AVENUE DE LA BOURDONNAIS AVENUE RAPP RUE DE LILLE

Musée d’Orsay ÉNA

29 avenue Rapp AVENUE DU MARECHAL GALLIENI 8 3 square Rapp Solférino

RUE DE CONSTANTINE QUAI BRANLYTour ./012 RUE DE L’UNIVERSIT RUE

RUE DE BELLECHASSE AVENUE DE SUFFREN DE GRENELLE Hôtel des Invalides PONT DE BIR HAKEIM É RUE DE GRIBEAUVAL BAC Saint‐Louis des Invalides Rue du Bac

DU Dôme des Invalides

RUE

Fontaine des BOULEVARD RASPAIL

BOULEVARD DE GRENELLE BOULEVARD DES INVALIDES Quatre Saisons RUE AVENUE DE TOURVILLE

AVENUE DUQUESNE

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 5

AVENUE DE LA MOTTE ‐ PICQUET Logistics Buildings and

Time and Distance: This part of the walking tour is about 3 miles. With stops, it will take about two-and-a-half hours. Allow another hour if you want to visit the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in the Palais de Chaillot, and even more time if you want to visit either or both of the two art museums on the route. (See below.) When to Go: The best days to take this walk are Wednesday through Saturday. Sunday works too but you’ll 1. Champs Elysées/ 2. Avenue des Champs The avenue has had a ceremonial as only be able to window shop along the Elysées well as a commercial function avenue Montaigne (perhaps better for Clémenceau Métro Station throughout much of its history, hosting your budget anyway). A decision about parades and celebrations such as the The avenue des Champs Elysées whether to do the walk on Monday or The Champs Elysées/Clémenceau annual conclusion of the Tour de was the heart of 20th-century Paris. Tuesday depends on whether you want Métro station was one of the first France. Most famously, the Allied Today tourist crowds, chain stores and to spend time visiting any museums. stations built on the first Paris Métro Forces led by Charles de Gaulle and traffic have taken away some of the The art museums in the Petit Palais line, Line 1. The Métro opened in July the Free French held a victory parade avenue’s former glory, but it is still a and the Palais de Tokyo are closed on 1900, too late for the opening of the along the avenue after the liberation of fun place to stroll and people watch. Monday. The Cité de l’Architecture et 1900 Universal Exposition in April, but Paris in 1944. Many of the streets, The Champs Elysées dates back to du Patrimoine is closed on Tuesday. still a significant accomplishment. The avenues and plazas around the Paris Métro was the fourth metro built in the 1600’s when Louis XIV’s Champs pay tribute to World War I the world after London, New York and landscape architect, André Le Nôtre, Helpful Hint: If you’re interested in and II leaders. For example, place Chicago. It took so long because there created a central tree-lined avenue Clémenceau is named for France’s architecture, the Cité de l’Architecture had been bickering for decades between extending through the Tuileries et du Patrimoine is a must see determined World War I Premier, the city and state. The state was Gardens to what is now the Rond Georges Clémenceau and contains a museum. It includes three sections, interested in linking major rail stations, Point des Champs Elysées. The one focused on statue of World War II hero Charles de while the city was more interested in avenue was very popular as a place to Gaulle. You’ll find nearby streets (primarily churches) from the Middle serving its core. The city finally prevailed stroll and take carriage rides, but had Ages through the 18th century, one named for Winston Churchill, Franklin and built its own system with tunnels very few buildings until the late 1800’s Roosevelt, and General Dwight focused on the 19th and 20th centuries, purposely too small for standard rail cars when wealthy neighborhoods shifted and a third section with murals and Eisenhower, and a statue of Churchill so the Métro and the railroads could west. A major building boom occurred just south of the Petit Palais. stained glass windows. If you prefer never connect. The numbers of the in the early 1900’s. Palatial art, you can visit either or both of the Métro lines correspond to the order in automobile showrooms, grand hotels, From place Clémenceau walk toward City of Paris museums on the walk. which they were opened. Lines 1 first-run movie theaters, cafes and The Petit Palais has a collection of the river on avenue Winston Churchill; through 6 were the core of the original restaurants made the avenue the the Petit Palais will be on your left. paintings and other art works dating system. The newest line, Line 14, place to be in Paris. from antiquity through the early part of opened its first section in 1998. The the 20th century; the Palais de Tokyo is distinctive art nouveau entrances to the devoted entirely to modern art. Both art original Métro stations were designed by museums are free so its easy to take a Hector Guimard in 1900. Sixty of these quick look to decide whether you want entrances still exist (although not to spend more time. necessarily in their original locations) and remain perhaps the Métro’s most Start widely recognizable feature.

Start at the exit from the Champs Extending west and east from the Métro Elysées/ Clemenceau Métro station. station is the .... www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 6 3. Petit Palais 4. Grand Palais 5. Pont Alexandre III 6. Cathédrale Saint-Jean- Baptiste The Petit Palais and Grand Palais The Grand Palais is distinguished by The Pont Alexandre III was designed across the street were the its enormous metal and glass roof, in conjunction with the Petit Palais and Very few churches were built in central showpieces of the 1900 Universal metal framework, and its rather the Grand Palais for the 1900 Paris during the 20th century as the Exposition. Unlike the temporary pompous neo- facade. At the Universal Exposition. The bridge, Catholic church struggled to serve the halls built for previous expositions, turn of the century, architects were named for Tsar Alexandre III, growing population in the suburbs. these buildings were built to last. prepared to use modern materials but celebrates a French-Russian alliance Those churches that were built in the designed the Petit still felt the need to cover them with treaty negotiated in 1892. The Tsar’s central city, such as the two churches Palais and oversaw the design of the traditional stonework and son, Tsar Nicholas II, laid the first you’ll see along rue Jean Goujon, Grand Palais. The dome of the Petit ornamentation. The winged horses and stone. The steel and stone bridge, were often built due to relatively Palais echoes the dome of the chariots on each corner of the Palais designed by engineers Jean Resal unique circumstances. The first church Invalides and its neo-Rococo style echo the winged horses on the Pont and Amédée Alby, was the first single- you will see, the Cathédrale Saint- was inspired by the at Alexandre. Today the main part of the span bridge built across the Seine. Its Jean-Baptiste, is often called the Versailles. While earlier universal Grand Palais houses temporary profile was purposely kept low to avoid Armenian Church. It was financed by exhibitions were celebrations of exhibitions. An extension on the west blocking views on either side of the a wealthy Armenian entrepreneur and technology and the industrial arts, the side, opened for the 1937 International river. The bridge is the most was built for the Armenian Apostolic 1900 exposition celebrated the Exposition, houses the Palais de la decorated in Paris. Gilded bronze (Orthodox) Church. Albert-Desiré creative arts. The Petit Palais was Découverte, an interactive science winged horses sit atop the huge Guilbert designed it in 1903 in a neo- built specifically to showcase French museum. (www.grandpalais.paris.fr ; columns at either end of the bridge. Romanesque style. art. Today the Musée des Beaux-Arts open only for special exhibitions except Seventeen different sculptors de la Ville de Paris still houses part of that the entrance hall is open Jul 15- designed the splendid lamps and Continue on rue Jean Goujon to the city’s art collection. The Petit Sep 5, 10-6) decoration along the span. Notre-Dame-de-la-Consolation, the Palais was built around a semicircular next church on the left. courtyard and garden. The cafe Continue along avenue Winston Head west along the river side of the overlooking this courtyard is a Churchill to the bridge, the Pont Grand Palais to rue François 1er; turn delightful place for a snack or lunch. Alexandre III. right; at place François 1er turn left (www. petitpalais.paris; Tu-Su 10-6; onto rue Jean Goujon where you’ll find free) the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste on the left. Cross the street to the ....

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 7 7. Notre-Dame-de-la- 8. 29 avenue Rapp and 3 9. Théâtre des Champs 10. Avenue Montaigne Elysées Consolation Square Rapp Avenue Montaigne is the most fashionable shopping street in Paris. The Théâtre des Champs Elysées Jules Lavirotte was the best known art Over the course of the 20th century so Notre-Dame-de-la-Consolation was (1913) was the first building in Paris to nouveau architect in Paris after Hector many high fashion designers migrated designed in 1900 by Guilbert in a use reinforced concrete construction on Guimard. The home at 29 avenue here that it became even more exclusive somewhat over-the-top neo-Baroque a large scale. Its primary designers, Rapp, with its asymmetrical facade of than Paris’ other high fashion street, rue style. This church was built on the site brothers Auguste and Gustave Perret, flowers intertwined with female Faubourg Saint-Honoré. French of and as a memorial to over 100 took maximum advantage of the new figures, is the most exuberant of his designers such as Dior and Chanel as people killed in an 1895 fire at a technology to create a stripped-down creations. He won a municipal prize well as international brands such as charity bazaar. Most of those who died classical building with strong rectilinear for best facade for it in 190l. The Prada and Escada can all be found were wealthy female patrons. It is lines. Externally, the concrete structure facade is also notable because it was here. While all the designers are said the men survived because they is covered by a marble facade, but the first facade where glazed tiles certainly high fashion, not all carry the beat their way out with their walking inside the concrete structure is left imbedded in the stone and brick were French “haute couture” label. “Haute sticks. exposed. The Perret brothers’ use of used on such a scale. The ceramicist, couture”, meaning “high sewing” in reinforced concrete in the Théâtre des Alexandre Biget, was the owner of the French, is a designation protected by Continue on rue Jean Goujon to the Champs Elysées affirmed its use in building. He collaborated on a French law and can only be used by place de l’Alma; turn left and cross the mainstream construction. The dome number of other art nouveau buildings design houses that meet certain river on the Pont de l’Alma; at the end inside the theater is covered by four in Paris, including Hector Guimard’s standards. They must design custom of the bridge angle slightly to the right paintings depicting the by best know project (next to the Paris fitted clothing, maintain a workshop in onto avenue Rapp; 29 avenue Rapp Maurice Denis of the early 20th-century Métro entrances), the Castel Paris with a minimum number of will be on the left. Nabi school of painting. The theater Béranger. One of Lavirotte’s earlier employees, and present their collections was founded as a venue for buildings, 3 square Rapp (1900), is twice a year in the Paris design shows. contemporary music, dance and opera. just down the street in a courtyard on Designers such as Dior and Chanel still One of the programs it sponsored the left side. retain this designation, while others during its first year was the Ballet such as Yves Saint-Laurent now Russe’s presentation of the Rite of Retrace your steps back along avenue concentrate on top end ready-to-wear Spring with music by Rapp and across the bridge to the fashions. and choreography by Nijinsky. The place de l’Alma; just beyond rue Jean program was seen by the audience as Goujon take avenue Montaigne to the Enjoy window shopping along the so unconventional that it nearly caused right; you’ll find the Théâtre des avenue, then retrace your steps back to a riot. (www.theatrechampselysees.fr ) Champs Elysées almost immediately the place de l’Alma; head west along

on the left; the best place to view it is avenue du President Wilson; you’ll find Continue walking for a few blocks from across the street. the Palais de Tokyo on the left. along the avenue Montaigne.

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 8 11. Palais de Tokyo 12. Palais d’Iéna 13. Palais de Chaillot took down the minarets, auditorium and rotunda of the old structure, separated The Palais de Tokyo and the last stop The Palais d’Iéna (1937-46, 1960-62, The Palais de Chaillot was designed as the two curved lateral wings and on this tour, the Palais de Chaillot, 1993-96), now housing the Conseil the entrance to the 1937 International opened up a stunning view of the Eiffel were designed for the 1937 Économique et Social, was originally Expostion. This exposition was a rather Tower and the Champs-de-Mars across International Exposition. The Palais de designed as a public works museum. strange event. It was meant to celebrate the river. The lateral wings were also Tokyo was somewhat removed from It was intended to be part of the 1937 the world’s democracies, many of which lengthened and covered in stripped- the major pavilions. It was designed International Exposition but was only were not very strong at the time. down classical facades. Ironically, given as a museum of modern art with a partially completed by 1937 and was Nationalist right-wing forces led by that as noted earlier the exposition was stripped-down classical exterior and finished after the war. The French General Francisco Franco, were fighting meant to celebrate the world’s interior spaces designed to maximize government awarded the contract to to overthrow Spain’s shaky left-wing democracies, the facades are eerily lighting. The city and state design the museum to Auguste Perret, republican government in the Spanish similar to Russian and German collaborated on the creation of the possibly as a sort of “compensation Civil War. France and Great Britain had totalitarian state architecture. The Palais museum but only up to a point. Their prize.” He was an active participant in already failed to respond effectively to now holds three museums: a maritime collections were housed in two planning for the 1937 exposition but several of Hitler’s early military moves. museum, an ethnography museum, and separate wings. Today the east wing ultimately was not awarded contracts Different pavilions in the exposition sent the Cité de l’Architecture et du still houses the Musée d’ Art Moderne to design any of the larger exposition very different messages. The Spanish Patrimoine. For anyone with an interest de la Ville de Paris. The state’s buildings. This building is not as well- Republic’s pavilion included Pablo in architecture this museum is a great modern art collection was moved to known a Perret’s earlier Théâtre des Picasso’s “Guernica,” intended to bring place to visit. It traces France’s the in the 1970’s. Champs Elysées although it is in many the world’s attention to the bombing of architectural history through photos, life- The west wing now houses the Centre ways more interesting and elegant. It innocent civilians in the Basque town of sized plaster casts, and thematic d’Art Contemporain, an art venue for blends his commitment to reinforced- Guernica by German warplanes at the exhibitions. (www.citechaillot.fr ; Mo, We, young artists. (www.mam.paris.fr ; Tu- concrete building technology with his behest of General Franco. At the same Fr-Su 11-7, Th 11-9, 8 €) Su 10-6, free) admiration for ancient Greek temples. time, huge pavilions representing the The huge columns are unusual totalitarian regimes of Nazi Germany and Continue walking on avenue du because they taper in at their bases. the Soviet Union faced each other at the Finish President Wilson to the place Green and pink stones imbedded in base of the Palais de Chaillot. The d’Iéna where you will see the Palais the hammered concrete give it an German pavilion was topped by an eagle The Trocadéro Métro station is right in d’Iéna/Counseil Économique et Social interesting color. and swastika. A huge statue of a working front of the Palais de Chaillot; you can to the left. man and woman holding a hammer and end your tour here for the day or Continue walking on avenue du sickle sat on top of the Soviet pavilion. connect to Walking Tour B by taking President Wilson to the place du The Palais de Chaillot was constructed Line 2 (direction Nation) to the Trocadéro and the huge ... on the foundations of the Palais du Montparnasse-Bienvenüe Métro Trocadéro which was built for the 1878 station. Universal Exposition. The architects

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www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 10 Logistics Buildings and Monuments

Time and Distance: This tour starts with a stop at the Tour Montparnasse, followed by a Métro ride from the Tour Montparnasse to the Jussieu campus of the and a 3.5 mile walking tour. Plan on 3-4 hours for the walk depending on how much time you spend viewing the exhibition at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, browsing in shops along the Viaduc des Arts or relaxing in the Parc de Bercy. When to Go: The Tour Montparnasse is open daily. Avoid Mondays since 1. Tour Montparnasse 2. Faculté des Sciences de two of the buildings you’ll want to visit, scale look totally out of context relative the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and the to the buildings around it. Designed by Jussieu The Tour Montparnasse (1970-73) was Institut du Monde Arabe, are closed Englishman and Italian built as part of the Maine-Montparnasse then. There are pluses and minuses to , the Pompidou was built to The Faculté des Sciences de redevelopment project. Its height (690 doing the walk on a Sunday. The house the state’s modern art collection. Jussieu was designed a decade feet) was facilitated by new building Viaduc des Arts shops won’t be open, The galleries were placed in the interior before the Tour Montparnasse and the regulations in the late sixties that but you can still enjoy the Promenade of the building and the mechanical Centre Pompidou. It wasn’t very well allowed more height and volume in the Plantée, and the Parc de Bercy will be systems were placed on the exterior, received either, but since it’s a bit more context of an overall “plot ratio.” At the more lively on Sunday than it is on a fully visible through the glass facade isolated it didn’t create quite the furor time it was built, the tower was the weekday. and all the more in view because they the other two buildings did. The plan tallest building in Europe. It is still the were color coded. When it was first for the campus was conceived by tallest building within the Paris city Helpful Hint: Even if you don’t do the built, Parisians referred to the building Edouard Albert in 1962 and completed limits. (The Tour Eiffel is taller but it’s rest of this walk, consider a visit to the as an “oil refinery.” Together the in 1971. It included L-shaped buildings considered a “structure” not a building.) Tour Montparnasse. From the Pompidou and the Tour Montparnasse arranged around rectangular As work began on the Tour observation deck, the cityscape of delayed the development of other courtyards and a 278-foot tower all Montparnasse, Parisians eagerly Paris is spread out before you. With modern buildings Paris for a decade. resting on a huge marble paved awaited its completion, believing –– as the help of signs at frequent intervals, They also prompted new building platform. Critics say the resulting the press and their President Georges you can spot the city’s major buildings, regulations limiting the height of future Jussieu campus is an inhuman, Pompidou told them –– that it would be monuments, and redevelopment buildings in the city center and monotonous, windswept complex of a “symbol of modernity.” By the time the projects and appreciate their scale and subjecting designs to stringent controls mediocre buildings with a nondescript building was finished, most people relationship to each other. It’s a great and reviews to insure their harmony tower that detracts from the Paris hated it. Its extreme height, proximity to introduction to the city, or a fun reprise with neighboring buildings. skyline. Like it or not, it provides a the central city, and rather jarring after a week or so of touring. (www.tourmontparnasse56.com ; daily good point of reference for many the presence right in the midst of some of Apr-Sep 9:30 AM - 11:30 PM, Oct-Mar buildings you’ll see later on this walk. the city’s most traditional and well loved Su-Th 9:30 AM - 10:30 PM, Fr-Sa 9:30 These buildings were built later than Start views were all strikes against it. Many AM - 11 PM, 11 €) the Jussieu campus and later than the people still say the best thing about the Tour Montparnasse and Centre After exiting from the Montparnasse- view from the top is that you don’t have Pompidou as well. Their architects tried Bienvenüe Métro station, walk along Take the Métro from the Tour to look at the tower itself. The building to overcome some of the problems of the rue de l’Arrivée to the northwest Montparnasse to the Jussieu campus. started a backlash against modern early modern architecture. You can be corner of the Tour Montparnasse; walk Catch the 4 line (direction Porte de architecture, a backlash that got even the judge of whether they succeeded. up the steps under the awnings worse when another major modern Clingnancourt) in the Montparnasse- marked Tout Paris à 360, buy a ticket, building, the Centre Pompidou, Bienvenüe station under the tower; and take the elevator to the top. If you appeared several years later on the change at the Odéon station to the 10 Exit the courtyard the way you entered; happen to emerge from another exit, other side of town. Looking slightly line (direction Gare d’Austerlitz); get off turn right then right again onto rue des follow signs to Montparnasse 56. northeast it’s easy to spot the Pompidou at the Jussieu station; cross the street Fossés-Saint-Bernard. Just before you and to see why people didn’t like it. and walk toward the tower into the reach the river, you’ll find the Institut du Even from a distance, its design and courtyard at the center of the .... Monde Arabe on the right.

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 11

4. Pavillon de l’Arsenal 3. Institut du Monde Arabe The decoration on the south facade 5. Opéra Bastille brings together modern technology The shell of this building is a 19th- The Institut du Monde Arabe and traditional Arab motifs. The 240 In contrast to the Institut du Monde century industrial warehouse. Inside (1981-1987) designed by , etched aluminum screens are Arabe, the Opéra Bastille (1982-1989) you’ll find a thoroughly modern was commissioned by the French reminiscent of decoratively carved was one of the least well received of exhibition space created in 1988 and government and about twenty Arab wooden window coverings used to Mitterrand’s “grands projets.” It was redesigned in 2003. The excellent countries to promote understanding of control sun in traditional Arab supposed to provide modern facilities in permanant exhibition at the Pavillon Arab cultures. It was one of the first buildings. Each screen has twenty- a larger 2,700 seat venue for the Paris de l’Arsenal, titled “Paris, a guided modern buildings constructed in Paris one electronically controlled irises Opéra and to make opera more tour,” focuses on Paris architecture after the building hiatus that occurred which open and close like camera accessible to the “masses” in the spirit and urban development –– past, following the controversies lenses in response to the amount of of the surrounding present and future. It includes signs surrounding the Tour Montparnasse sun falling on photo cells in the and poorer east side of Paris. In this (in English as well as French), maps, and the Centre Pompidou. Although screens. Inside the building, in same spirit, the opening of the building photos, and slideshows. Of particular planning for the building began during addition to a museum and a library, was set to coincide with the bicentennial interest are the sections explaining the Presidency of Giscard d’Estaing, there is a rooftop terrace with a great of the . The building how the city walls have defined and François Mitterrand adopted the view of the river and Notre Dame. was designed by Canadian-Uruguayan shaped the urban environment. project and included it in the “grands You’ll also find a restaurant, which is a Carlos Ott. The curved facade he Temporary exhibitions focus on projets” he announced in 1982. It is the bit expensive for a full meal but fine for designed facing the place de la Bastille different sections of the city or on smallest and one of the best received drinks or a snack, and a cafeteria is generally considered to be too large particular buildings or redevelopment of those projects. The building design which is open for lunch from 12-3. and dominant relative to the scale of projects. (www.pavillon-arsenal.com; places much more emphasis on (www.imarabe.org ; Tu-Su 10-6, closed other buildings on the plaza, while the Tu-Sa 10:30-6, Su 11-7, closed Mo; harmony with its urban context than Mo; 7.70 €, no charge to take the black granite entrance portal is seen as free) the designs of its modern elevator to the terrace) too small relative to the scale of the rest predecessors. The height of the of the building. Initially there were even building is relatively low. The north Cross the river on the ; more serious problems with the outside facade curves to fit the shape of the continue on boulevard Henri IV and Return to boulevard Henri IV; turn right of the building. The stone cladding kept Seine while the south facade is more turn right onto boulevard Morland. The and walk to the place de la Bastille; falling off. While this problem has been linear in keeping with the Jussieu Pavillon de l’Arsenal will be on the the Opéra will be part way across the addressed, the building is still in need of campus adjacent to it. right. plaza to the right. constant repair. (www.operadeparis.fr ) As you face the Opéra, rue de Lyon will be to your right; follow it until you reach a fork; keep to the left onto avenue Daumesnil; after you cross avenue Ledru Rollin, you’ll find the Viaduc des Arts on the left with steps leading to the Promenade Plantée above it. www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 12 6. Viaduc des Arts and 7. Gare de Lyon 8. Ministère de l’Economie 9. Palais Omnisports Promenade Plantée et des Finances The Gare de Lyon (1895-1902), The Palais Omnisports (1980-84) The Viaduc des Arts and Promenade opened just after the turn of the 20th The Ministère de l’Economie et des was conceived at the time Paris was Plantée above it extend for a little over century. A replacement for an earlier Finances (1989) became one of bidding (unsuccessfully) to host the two miles from the place de la Bastille outdated station, it serves the south of Mitterrand’s “grands projets” primarily 1992 Olympics. Designed by Michal to the Jardin de Reuilly in Bercy. The France including Lyon, Marseille and because a building was needed to hold Andrault, its huge amphitheater can Paris Strasbourg Railway built the the French Riviera. It was designed the finance ministries displaced by a seat up to 17,000 people for concerts viaduct in 1859 to carry trains from the by Paris-Lyon-Mediterranée Company much more significant project, the or musicals, or it can be configured in place de la Bastille to the eastern architect Marius Toudoire with a renovation project. many different ways to accommodate suburbs. In the early 1970’s, the new colorful, decorated facade French architects Paul Chemetov and a swimming pool or twenty-four kinds RER “A” commuter train made the similar to Côte d’Azur luxury hotels of Borja Huidobro faced a number of of sports events. The amphitheater is railway redundant. The train station was the time. The clock tower is challenges including how to incorporate sunken to reduce the building’s bulk demolished to make way for the Opéra reminiscent of Big Ben in London. two older buildings, and how to disguise and the pyramid-shaped exterior is Bastille and the viaduct was Inside, the train platforms are neither the size and bulk of the structure. Their covered in grass to help mitigate the abandoned. A debate ensued during as dramatic nor as well integrated with solution was to construct a long building harshness of the concrete building most of the 1980’s over whether to tear the building as those in earlier 19th- perpendicular to the Seine bridging over materials and to integrate the down the viaduct or convert it to a century stations. The most interesting an adjacent roadway and projecting out structure with the adjacent park. The public promenade above and shops interior feature is a fancy, neo-Baroque into the river. It is not clear that this steel framework over the building below. The promenade and shops won. style restaurant –– the Train Bleu –– design succeeded very well in includes a system to seed, water and The project was designed by architect overlooking the train platforms. The disguising the building’s massive size, cut the grass. Patrick Berger and landscape designer station is an excellent reminder, in and it has not been very well received. Paul Mathieux and completed between contrast with the other buildings on Opponents criticize its fortress-like this part of the tour, of how The next stop on this tour, the Parc de 1989 and 1992. Today you can view presence and “neo-Stalinist” style. Bercy, is just to the east of the Palais the rooftops of surrounding buildings dramatically architectural styles Mitterrand himself is said to have called Omnisports. from the lovely garden promenade. The changed during the course of the 20th it a giant “toll booth.” Others call it the vaults below, housing a variety of century. “Ministry of Fear,” a reference possibly businesses related to the arts, such as to the design but perhaps simply to the cabinet makers and musical instrument Find rue de Bercy on the south side of thought of close to 5,000 finance makers, are also interesting to explore. the station; take a left and walk to the bureaucrats housed together inside one (www.viaducdesarts.fr ) boulevard de Bercy where you will see of France’s most powerful ministries. the huge Ministère de l’Economie et Walk along the Viaduc or the des Finances on the right. The grass-covered building just across Promenade until you reach the boulevard de Bercy from the Ministère boulevard Diderot; take a right and de l’Economie is the .... follow the boulevard Diderot until you see the plaza in front of the .... www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 13 10. Parc de Bercy 11. Maison du Cinéma 12. Bibliothèque Nationale At the top of the steps you reach an unwelcoming windswept The Parc de Bercy (1993-1997) was de France - François The Maison du Cinéma was platform and then have to go down one of four major new parks added in designed by American architect Frank Mitterrand again to the entrance. There were Paris in the last two decades of the O. Gehry. It was originally designed to a number of technical problems 20th century. The others were the house the American Center, founded The Bibliothèque Nationale de with the library’s design, not the (1987), the Parc de to further French and American France - François Mitterrand least of which was that the sun Belleville (1988), and the Parc André understanding. The center closed in (1993-97) is sometimes referred to by beating through the glass walls Citroën (1993). The Parc de Bercy is 1996 due to financial problems and Parisians as the TGB (très grande would have caused an particularly interesting because the the film center opened in 2000. The bibliothèque). It is part of the Tolbiac unintentional “book burning.” This designers did a nice job of street facade of the building, with quarter within the Paris Rive Gauche problem has been fixed with some incorporating old winding streets, horizontal rows of windows and stone redevelopment project and is the last, insulation and shutters. When cobblestone paths, and rail tracks facing, tries to blend with the largest and most expensive of designers realized that termites used to take wine from barges on the streetscape. The facade facing the Mitterrand’s “grands projets.” It was attracted to trees in the garden Seine to storehouses in Bercy. The park is another story. It is a typical built to solve a longstanding might also invade the books inside park is divided into three sections. Gehry design with bold, oddly shaped, overcrowding problem in the original the library, the garden had to be The first part is an open grassy area flat, curved and angled overlapping Bibliothèque Nationale. The project sealed off. And the library’s much where people are actually allowed to surfaces centered around a steep was designed by a young French heralded computer control systems sit and play (unusual in Paris parks). curved zinc roof. The building is not architect, , with an did not work well and are still being The middle section is a carefully generally considered to be as underground platform, a sunken fixed. (www.bnf.fr; reception area organized French garden with square successful as some of Gehry’s other garden, and four L-shaped 24-story Mo 2-7, Tu-Sa 9-7, Su 1-7) beds containing vegetables, fruit trees, works such as the Disney Center in towers that are supposed to look like roses and a vineyard. The last part of Los Angeles and the Bilbao Museum open books. Each of the towers is the park is a romantic English-style in Spain. Its attempts to be both named: Law, Letters, Numbers and Finish garden with rolling hills, large trees, a contextual and spectacular seem at Time. Unfortunately, although the canal, a small lake and Japanese-style times to compete too much with each building looks somewhat interesting From the library as you face the bridges over roads beneath the park. other. But the building is still very from afar, on closer inspection it river, walk left on the quai François A raised embankment on the park’s interesting and well worth a look. becomes a rather uninviting wasteland Maurac which becomes quai de la south side shields it from the sights surrounded by steep steps on three Gare. The Quai de la Gare Métro and sounds of the adjacent roadway sides made of an exotic but station will be at boulevard Vincent Cross back through the park toward and supports an elevated pathway uninteresting hardwood. Auriol. with nice views of the Seine and the river; climb up the steps to the top surrounding areas. of the embankment where you’ll find a pedestrian bridge leading to the .... The Maison du Cinéma is on the north side of the park.

www.historywalksparis.com Paris in the 20th Century - 14