In my view no photos can do justice to this masterpiece in design, Bernard Tschumi's Cinematic promenade that was completed in 1987. The point grid of folies that define the structure of the park cannot be captured in a single frame, except from a hot air balloon perhaps, along with the lines being the elevated walkways that bind the elements together and the surfaces, the individual parks that combine to make up the whole. The only way to appreciate the project is to walk along the lines, climb on the folies and experience it on the ground. As an architecture student as I was in 1995, the tendency was to concentrate on the folies, particularly with the emphasis on them in the architecture books that could be found in the university library.
Over the years I have been telling students and colleagues about what an amazing place I think it is, but up until now I have not attempted to articulate all of those thoughts in a single piece. Now with my attention on the transformation of Olympic Park at Stratford, soon to become the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, I cannot help casting my memory back to my experience of La Villette some 18 years ago. For me the similarities are obvious: both have transformed industrial wasteland areas of city that would not ordinarily be considered as prime areas for redevelopment; and now in post games mode Stratford will start its new life as a park with indeterminate future events that can continue to reinforce the park's identity, which is how La Villette was envisaged at the outset.
Along with about 25 of my fellow Architecture students I took photographs of everything, from folies, reflections, shadows trying to compose images, but on having those films processed it was clear to me that my 36 exposures did not in any way capture the experience. I am ashamed to say that in the subsequent 18 years the opportunity has not presented itself to return so this is a piece based wholly on memory of my journey through the park in as it existed in 1995.
The first view was from the coach travelling along the motorway into Paris on our journey from Perry Barr, la Geode, a giant silver sphere that was not in the Architecture books, dominates the scene along with the expected red folies, serving to whet the appetite for the visit in the coming days. The actual arrival at the Park is at the front of Rice Francis Ritchies' (RFR) La Cite des Sciences (Museum of Science and Industry). Huge blue steel trusses, frame less glass boxes sitting in reflective water pools, fountains, immaculate stainless steel railings, very clean concrete and an old school briefing about what time we need to be back on the coach. A red steel frame leaning at a strange angle to the side of the entry plaza represents the first glimpse of Tschumi's fabled follies.
On crossing the entry bridge into the La Cite des Sciences, into a phenomenal space, some four to five storeys high, more of the huge steel trusses, a tent roof covers the central atrium, click! click! click! frame less glass joints, with stainless steel fixings are everywhere click! click! click! escalators climb through the atrium, glass sides, nothing new, glass sides to the lower section, with black steel truss and all the mechanism visible, have not seen that before, click! click! click!On crossing the entry bridge into the La Cite des Sciences, into a phenomenal space, some four to five storeys high, more of the huge steel trusses, a tent roof covers the central atrium, click! click! click! frameless glass joints, with stainless steel fixings are everywhere click! click! click! escalators climb through the atrium, glass sides, nothing new, glass sides to the lower section, with black steel truss and all the mechanism visible, have not seen that before, click! click! click!
On exiting the atrium towards the park, La Goede, absolutely no photographs can capture this click! click! click! anyway. But aside from the distorted reflection of the La Cite des Sciences behind, it is not only the visual that makes this so impressive, it is the aural! It is a serene environment, where it is tempting to sit on the wall of the square pool that contains the sphere and get lost in the sound. I was told that the sound is created from a single sound wave being directed at the sphere and bouncing off surrounding surfaces, I don't know it it is true but the atmosphere it creates is impressive, the watery echoes would not sound out of place at a Pink Floyd concert.
Moving on into the park, L'Argonaute, a submarine! I did not know Paris was on the sea! Here we have a submarine compeletely out of place yet is sitting in a dry dock with one of the red folies acting as it's entrance pavilion.
A bit about the folies: each one is based on an enamelled red steel 10,8m cube laid out on a grid at 120m centres, each one different, some forming a more complete cube than others, elements have been removed, others have been added in a process of 'deconstruction' borrowed from film editing techniques; each frame changing slightly from the previous so that the image moves when viewed in succession. I have read multiple interpretations ranging from each folie being a 'deconstruction' of Le Corbusier's Buildings, another being an interpretation of Russian Constructivism to another being a physical manifestation of Tschumi's 'Manhattan Transcripts' a theoretical project ranging from 1976 to 1981 where abstract drawings are used to represent events that have happened. My interpretation from reading them on the ground? all could be true, there is certainly a passing resemblence to Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye in one, others do resemble imagery that originated in the Russian Constructivist movement, and sure the Manhattan Transcripts could inform the whole or even individual folies. Others resemble machines from the industrial revolution or even before, one contains a water wheel. As with all art and scuplture, each is open to individual interpretation and can be read as being purely built for pleasure at the same time as a statement on twentieth century culture, showing traces of past events that have caused us to be where we are today.
What makes these special for me is that each one is big enough to be a building, some contain program such as coffee shops, others are great to climb on, a spiral stair leads to nowhere except give an elevated view of the park, and what a view! this park is enormous! A canal runs through the middle of it, which at this moment has a barge loaded with sand making its way across the panorama. Bridges cross the canal one in a formal manner, making one of the 'lines' an elevated walkway that runs the length of the park, crossing a second that runs the width of the park. The second bridge crosses the river in an entirely playful manner, black steel structure that twists and curves its way across like a roller coaster whilst effortlessly carrying an aluminium deck into one of the folies to make the descent back to the ground. Walking along the promenade that runs alongside the canal the elevated walkway seems to float as very slender leaning columns meet the ground and disappear into the background. Moving on towards that background a football match is in progress on the immaculate green, whilst to the side appears to be a model of the Sydney harbour bridge, but on closer inspection part of a huge bike wheel buried in the ground, and over there is half a saddle, and there is the handlebar with a bell, it is as though a giant kid has chucked their bike down an gone off to play, and whilst they were playing the ground rose.
Outside a folly a bunch of steel chairs a strange angles stick out of the ground as though forming a bizarre cafe. Heading back through the gardens, some sunken, one of which bamboo climbs from a bed of gravel though a network of steel cables stretching from side to side at odd angles to define the 'ground' plane. Another plane appears to be formed of springboards, it seems that everywhere there is something different to play on, each space has a different character, and if you get lost it is easy to use the folies as orientation devices to find the way back, and on doing just that it is clear that there is far too much to take in during a brief single visit. What I did manage to take in has stayed with me, two hours spent in a most amazing place where time simply disappeared.
On leaving the experience of La Villette of 1995 and returning to the present, just a word to the nay-sayers: Parc de la Villette attracts 8-10 million visitors each year depending on which source you read and that is without having a hugely successful Olympic Games to kick start it's existence.
Over the years I have been telling students and colleagues about what an amazing place I think it is, but up until now I have not attempted to articulate all of those thoughts in a single piece. Now with my attention on the transformation of Olympic Park at Stratford, soon to become the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, I cannot help casting my memory back to my experience of La Villette some 18 years ago. For me the similarities are obvious: both have transformed industrial wasteland areas of city that would not ordinarily be considered as prime areas for redevelopment; and now in post games mode Stratford will start its new life as a park with indeterminate future events that can continue to reinforce the park's identity, which is how La Villette was envisaged at the outset.
Along with about 25 of my fellow Architecture students I took photographs of everything, from folies, reflections, shadows trying to compose images, but on having those films processed it was clear to me that my 36 exposures did not in any way capture the experience. I am ashamed to say that in the subsequent 18 years the opportunity has not presented itself to return so this is a piece based wholly on memory of my journey through the park in as it existed in 1995.
The first view was from the coach travelling along the motorway into Paris on our journey from Perry Barr, la Geode, a giant silver sphere that was not in the Architecture books, dominates the scene along with the expected red folies, serving to whet the appetite for the visit in the coming days. The actual arrival at the Park is at the front of Rice Francis Ritchies' (RFR) La Cite des Sciences (Museum of Science and Industry). Huge blue steel trusses, frame less glass boxes sitting in reflective water pools, fountains, immaculate stainless steel railings, very clean concrete and an old school briefing about what time we need to be back on the coach. A red steel frame leaning at a strange angle to the side of the entry plaza represents the first glimpse of Tschumi's fabled follies.
On crossing the entry bridge into the La Cite des Sciences, into a phenomenal space, some four to five storeys high, more of the huge steel trusses, a tent roof covers the central atrium, click! click! click! frame less glass joints, with stainless steel fixings are everywhere click! click! click! escalators climb through the atrium, glass sides, nothing new, glass sides to the lower section, with black steel truss and all the mechanism visible, have not seen that before, click! click! click!On crossing the entry bridge into the La Cite des Sciences, into a phenomenal space, some four to five storeys high, more of the huge steel trusses, a tent roof covers the central atrium, click! click! click! frameless glass joints, with stainless steel fixings are everywhere click! click! click! escalators climb through the atrium, glass sides, nothing new, glass sides to the lower section, with black steel truss and all the mechanism visible, have not seen that before, click! click! click!
On exiting the atrium towards the park, La Goede, absolutely no photographs can capture this click! click! click! anyway. But aside from the distorted reflection of the La Cite des Sciences behind, it is not only the visual that makes this so impressive, it is the aural! It is a serene environment, where it is tempting to sit on the wall of the square pool that contains the sphere and get lost in the sound. I was told that the sound is created from a single sound wave being directed at the sphere and bouncing off surrounding surfaces, I don't know it it is true but the atmosphere it creates is impressive, the watery echoes would not sound out of place at a Pink Floyd concert.
Moving on into the park, L'Argonaute, a submarine! I did not know Paris was on the sea! Here we have a submarine compeletely out of place yet is sitting in a dry dock with one of the red folies acting as it's entrance pavilion.
A bit about the folies: each one is based on an enamelled red steel 10,8m cube laid out on a grid at 120m centres, each one different, some forming a more complete cube than others, elements have been removed, others have been added in a process of 'deconstruction' borrowed from film editing techniques; each frame changing slightly from the previous so that the image moves when viewed in succession. I have read multiple interpretations ranging from each folie being a 'deconstruction' of Le Corbusier's Buildings, another being an interpretation of Russian Constructivism to another being a physical manifestation of Tschumi's 'Manhattan Transcripts' a theoretical project ranging from 1976 to 1981 where abstract drawings are used to represent events that have happened. My interpretation from reading them on the ground? all could be true, there is certainly a passing resemblence to Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye in one, others do resemble imagery that originated in the Russian Constructivist movement, and sure the Manhattan Transcripts could inform the whole or even individual folies. Others resemble machines from the industrial revolution or even before, one contains a water wheel. As with all art and scuplture, each is open to individual interpretation and can be read as being purely built for pleasure at the same time as a statement on twentieth century culture, showing traces of past events that have caused us to be where we are today.
What makes these special for me is that each one is big enough to be a building, some contain program such as coffee shops, others are great to climb on, a spiral stair leads to nowhere except give an elevated view of the park, and what a view! this park is enormous! A canal runs through the middle of it, which at this moment has a barge loaded with sand making its way across the panorama. Bridges cross the canal one in a formal manner, making one of the 'lines' an elevated walkway that runs the length of the park, crossing a second that runs the width of the park. The second bridge crosses the river in an entirely playful manner, black steel structure that twists and curves its way across like a roller coaster whilst effortlessly carrying an aluminium deck into one of the folies to make the descent back to the ground. Walking along the promenade that runs alongside the canal the elevated walkway seems to float as very slender leaning columns meet the ground and disappear into the background. Moving on towards that background a football match is in progress on the immaculate green, whilst to the side appears to be a model of the Sydney harbour bridge, but on closer inspection part of a huge bike wheel buried in the ground, and over there is half a saddle, and there is the handlebar with a bell, it is as though a giant kid has chucked their bike down an gone off to play, and whilst they were playing the ground rose.
Outside a folly a bunch of steel chairs a strange angles stick out of the ground as though forming a bizarre cafe. Heading back through the gardens, some sunken, one of which bamboo climbs from a bed of gravel though a network of steel cables stretching from side to side at odd angles to define the 'ground' plane. Another plane appears to be formed of springboards, it seems that everywhere there is something different to play on, each space has a different character, and if you get lost it is easy to use the folies as orientation devices to find the way back, and on doing just that it is clear that there is far too much to take in during a brief single visit. What I did manage to take in has stayed with me, two hours spent in a most amazing place where time simply disappeared.
On leaving the experience of La Villette of 1995 and returning to the present, just a word to the nay-sayers: Parc de la Villette attracts 8-10 million visitors each year depending on which source you read and that is without having a hugely successful Olympic Games to kick start it's existence.
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