Metropolitics

Paris and the Triangle Tower, or a Half-Century of High-Rise Debate

Julie Gimbal & translated by Oliver Waine — 2024-06-21T05:00:00Z

The introduction of a bioclimatic local planning scheme in Paris has put the brakes on high-rise projects in the city, as illustrated by the case of the Triangle Tower. Here, Julie Gimbal looks back on half a century of rejection of tall buildings, an approach typical of the French capital that continues to influence decisions today.
The plan to build the Triangle Tower at the Porte de Versailles, on the southwestern edge of the city of Paris, has had a turbulent history, rekindled in the

- Essays / tours, histoire, Paris, urbanisme, architecture

Where are the Women Architects?

Collectif Architoo & translated by Oliver Waine — 2023-03-31T05:00:00Z

At the 2020 edition of the Albums des jeunes architectes et paysagistes (AJAP) competition, organized by the French ministry of culture, only two women were among the architects nominated. The Architoo collective underlines the persistent inequalities that still mark the careers of female architects.
The Albums des Jeunes Architectes et Paysagistes (“Young Architects' and Landscape Architects' Albums”)—or AJAP—is a biennial competition that was relaunched by the French ministry of culture in

- Debates / architecture, gender, feminism, sexism, architect, women, teaching, education, inequalities

What Has Happened in Berlin Since 1989?

Thibaut de Ruyter & Olivier Gaudin & translated by Oliver Waine — 2020-06-12T05:00:00Z

Since the fall of the Wall in November 1989, Berlin has metamorphosed into one of the world's most popular urban tourism destinations. Architect, art critic and curator Thibaut de Ruyter has witnessed these transformations firsthand and shares his impressions (originally published in French in 2019) of what has changed in the reunified German capital.
What explains Berlin's attraction as a city?
At the end of the 1980s, the city was something of an island of marginality. This is still the

- Interviews / architecture, history, urban history, memory, Germany, Berlin

Deafening Discord: Reclaiming Residents' Anger in Working-Class Neighborhoods

Pierre Chabard & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-10-26T05:00:00Z

We recently published an article showing how, in Roubaix in northern France, elected officials took steps to “prevent the creation of a cohesive residents' collective seeking to challenge an urban-renewal project that risks being imposed upon their neighborhood.” Pierre Chabard revisits this interpretation of the situation and shows that, while it is true that the association studied by the author of this article was systematically hindered, it was not the only initiative that tried to give a

- Debates / architecture, participation, housing, urban planning, working-class neighborhoods, urban renewal, urban regeneration, Roubaix, working classes, associations, Lille, mobilization, Hauts-de-France, Northern France, Nord–Pas-de-Calais

Childhood Spent Waiting at the Gate

Adeline Perrot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2016-04-01T05:00:00Z

The recent opening of a holding area for “unaccompanied foreign minors” at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport reflects a change in French policy regarding the detention of children at border entry points. Adeline Perrot shows that, in reality, providing care for young people in confinement straddles a fine line between protecting minors in danger and policing migratory movements.
---- Series: Children in the City In July 2011, a closed area for the detention of unaccompanied foreign minors was

- From the Field / architecture, France, Île-de-France, Paris region, Paris, police, children, law, migration, borders, detention centres, airport, hospitality, education, childhood in danger, migratory policy, NGOs, social work

The Tokyo skyline, or the hidden order behind opportunistic construction

Raphaël Languillon-Aussel & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-11-13T06:00:00Z

Behind the apparent disorder, Tokyo's current skyline in fact complies with complex rules. While the first towers in Tokyo appeared in the late 1960s, the “verticalization” of the city has in reality taken place over two distinct periods: the 1980s – the era of the construction of the global city – and the 2000s – Tokyo's renaissance. Since the 2000s, the skyline has tended to respect certain spatial codes, specific to the Japanese context, against a backdrop of dynamic tension between the

- Essays / architecture, culture, skyline, towers, development, Tokyo, Japan, space, verticality

Vancouverism: hybridisation and spread of an urban model

Nicolas Douay & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-06-12T04:50:00Z

The transformation that downtown Vancouver has undergone – which has since become a reference, known as “Vancouverism” – has involved building residential towers and creating public spaces that pay visual attention to their surroundings. Nicolas Douay looks into the origins of these transformations and the ways in which this new urban model has been disseminated.
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? In a context of metropolisation, cities create images, values and

- From the Field / architecture, urban planning, real estate, Canada, downtown, city centre, dissemination of urban references, model, Vancouver, Hong Kong

Starchitects: walking the line between individuality and conformity

Géraldine Molina & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-19T05:50:00Z

The stars of the worlds of architecture and urban planning are prime targets of research, with the aim of understanding the imaginative processes involved in the production of our cities. Géraldine Molina takes a closer look at today's “starchitects” and shows how they have helped to personalise thinking and action regarding the city over the last three decades, while at the same time – and somewhat paradoxically – leading to a certain normalisation of practices.
---- Series: The Renewed

- Essays / architecture, urban planning, profession, star system, distinction, urban project, model, conformity

Henri Lefebvre for architects

Grégory Busquet & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-12-11T05:50:00Z

Although Henri Lefebvre is well known for introducing the concept of “the right to the city”, his work is little used by urban planners and architects. In Henri Lefebvre on Space, Łukasz Stanek reveals the practical ambitions of the this thinker's work and how they can be put to use not just by academics but also by professionals in search of a theoretical frame of reference.
By revisiting the philosophy of the man considered, in France, to be one of the last “global” urban thinkers (before

- Reviews / architecture, urban planning, Lefebvre, architectural theory

La Défense: the Planning and Politics of a Global Business District

Matthew Wendeln — 2013-06-26T04:55:00Z

La Défense, Europe's largest business district, is the outcome of a singular mix of state planning, architectural innovation, and political power struggles. The dictionary and atlas edited by Pierre Chabard and Virginie Picon-Lefebvre sheds new light on its history and current dynamics.
La Défense, the international business district situated in the western suburbs of Paris, is a fascinating artifact of the planning and architecture of global cities. Since 1958, the state-run agency EPAD

- Reviews / architecture, France, Île-de-France, Paris region, urban planning, governance, Paris, business district, La Défense