Extract
[...] To what extent does the Beaubourg district, and more particularly its esplanade, allow for a synthesis of the Parisian public space? The 'worm' climbs constantly up to the sixth floor. This 'mechanical animal', in a plexiglas tube that would not have renounced the painter Fernand Léger in one of his canvases, allows visitors to the famous Beaubourg Modern Art Centre to enjoy one of the most famous views of the city of Paris. Indeed, it embraces a 180° panorama of the capital, displaying the iconic monuments of the capital: from Notre Dame, to the Montparnasse Tower, from the St Jacques Tower to the Sacré C?ur, nestled on the Montmartre hill. [...]
[...] There is another world that replaces the social world as it appears at first glance, when one arrives at the site. This 'other world' refers to the world of the invisible for most individuals who daily and briefly gravitate around the vast esplanade. An 'other world' that inevitably refers to the eternal image of the 'little people of Paris', such as it was forged by Baudelaire, or Hugo in their time. The smell of urine on Rue de Venise, pungent in the early morning after a night of drunkenness, the poor wandering souls who go to feed the pigeons nesting on the roof of the Brancusi Atelier, under the gaze of the 'Great Assistant' of Marx Ernst, the second-hand book sellers in front of Leroy-Merlin, the cinephiles becoming critics after a session at MK2, all of this contributes to creating an atmosphere, an almost theatrical scene. [...]
[...] We hardly dare to believe this vision. Today, the public space around the Centre Pompidou is therefore popular with all generations and social classes insofar as it contains both culture and, above all, culture 'in the making', that is to say, the one unfolding before our eyes. The photographs of a Brassaï remain iconic for those who admire the City of Light. However, we can do the same thing today by trying to capture, through a camera, the very essence of the poetic breath that animated Brassaï in his time. [...]
[...] What is being questioned here, in light of this sociological table, is why choose to live here? While the noise disturbances, due to the daily presence days a year, of cohorts of tourists and passersby, as well as the bright lights (due to the nighttime lighting of the Centre Pompidou, in particular) are numerous, a population has decided to live here. The reasons are similar to those who live in this type of environment, such as the Place St Michel or the Rue de Rivoli: being at the heart of Paris remains anchored in many individuals, as its attraction and prestige remain great. [...]
[...] In other words, how do the different social groups, whether it be tourists, residents of the district, or Île-de-France residents, interact with this space?1 How was it possible to appropriate a relatively large space in the very heart of the capital? A renovated district, a 'urban alchemy' rediscovered At the beginning of this proposal, it is interesting to appreciate the shift that has taken place since the creation of the Centre Pompidou, that is to say, at the time when the official decision was made to transform the last unsanitary plots in the center of the capital and the vast adjacent parking lot into a new district where modernity would be erected as a banner. [...]
