Fallacy of Parisian Time and Space: Paris 2062
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01 02 It is the year 2062 and after living in Paris for the past fifty years, I have watched the city go through an epic identity crisis. There have been numerous attempts by the city to change the Parisian cityscape to reflect contemporary times, while also keeping the iconic image of the past. The Parisian authorities and residents realize the mistakes they have made in 2032, when people of Paris collectively decided to pass a law completely banning all contemporary architecture from the city proper. This measure also called for the destruction of existing buildings that did not fit the traditional Parisian look. The enforcement of the nostalgic imagery has been detrimental to the integrity of Paris as a city of power and influence in the world stage on serious current affairs. The lack of architectural innovation of the 2030’s became interpreted as the stagnation of Parisian society and was often mistaken as Paris’ indifference to be involved in new thoughts and ideas. The 2030’s depression in architectural development and innovation (of any kind for that matter) led the Parisian government to rigorously promote academia as part of its revitalization of Paris in hopes of becoming the capital of intellectualism and technology, as it once was more than a hundred years prior. By encouraging academics to come study and research in Paris, city officials hope the pool of intellectuals they helped nourish will bring Paris into the future in all areas, especially the built environment. This brought great attention to Parisian universities and large amount of funding was made available for intellectual endeavors in Paris. Contrary to the predictions of Marc Augé that “…all the universities of Paris were eliminated and replaced by vast campuses in the greater suburbs…” 1 , universities remained in the city proper and were celebrated with the newfound enthusiasm and respect. Space is finite and overcrowding of facilities became a problem, as there was a large influx of students and academics. With this sudden increase in population, the question of housing and property became a growing concern for the existing Parisian population. To address the problem of being labeled as architecturally old-fashioned as well as the flooding of academics into the city, Parisian official launched campaigns to modernize its environment, except this had to be done without the destruction or altercation of the existing buildings. All new architectural development in Paris were to be mobile, modular, and robotic in order to adhere to the city’s strict laws of architectural preservation and to address the increase in population density. University students now all live in robotic pods that function as their private room as well as their mode of transportation. The pods are designed to suit the students’ needs and activities, FALLACY OF PARISIAN TIME AND SPACE ANNE WEI offering both convenience of travel and comfort of living all in one. By giving each student her own affordable mode of rapid and convenient transportation, it creates a personalized perception of the space and time relationship. The pods allows for the translation between ground, water, and air-travel by way of one vehicle (the pod can walk, sail, and fly) and the individual freedom of controlling travel through time and space. This new way of student living was – and still is – highly praised by all in Paris and the world. Parts of Paris were allocated for the pods to station themselves when at rest. The station points, or the nucleus (plural: nuclei), are structures housing recharge stations for the pods (the pods are solar as well as battery powered), facilities (such as kitchen and baths), and various other program, including cafes, laboratories, woodshops, gyms, and galleries. The nuclei are located in spaces that are often overlooked and uninhabited, also known as the in-between spaces of the city. Placing the student pods and the nuclei structure in overlooked areas of the city activates these abandoned spaces by introducing program and activities. In addition, the pods and nuclei allow for the discovery of the sublime in the most unattractive spaces of loud and busy boulevard intersections and streets, sidewalk parking lots, and narrow alleyways. The pod-nuclei system appeared on the streets of Paris only two years after its proposal to the city, as construction began right after the approval of the design in 2048. The eagerness of city officials and citizens to adopt the campaign to bring Paris into the future facilitated the quick turn-around from proposal to implementation of the pod- nuclei design. In addition, the nuclei models are all designed as kit-of- parts, where the entire form of the structure depends on aggregation and repetition of a few pre-casted units. The pre-fabricated building units allow for the economy of production and assembly, which is why the nuclei recharge stations appeared throughout the city practically overnight. The nuclei are monuments of their own right. As a matter of fact, the nuclei structures were designed to be the inhabitable monument as well as the ready-made. As Jean Baudrillard correctly assessed about modern – and future – architecture, “…under the impact of technology and sophisticated equipment everything is becoming ‘ready-made.’ All the elements to be combined are there already; they merely have to be rearranged on the stage, like most postmodern forms.” 2 As Paris is defined by monumentality, it will continue this tradition of building monuments by developing the ready-made monument with each nucleus structures. The pod-nuclei system brought even more tourism and publicity to the city, as if it did not already receive enough attention. People from all over the world came to visit Paris for its well-preserved traditional architecture as well as these robotic pods lining the streets, soaring across the skies, floating down the Seine, and mingling amongst automobiles in traffic. The sight of the machine, modular architecture against the backdrop of the Parisian buildings of the past is a physical manifestation of the fantastic and surreal, unique only to Paris and no place else. Paris became more Parisian not only through the preservation of the traditional and historic, but also through its architectural avant- garde spirit that it was able to revive by incorporating a new architectural element to the existing traditionalmarchitecture of classic Paris. Even though the pod-nuclei addition to the city does not aesthetically blend with the preserved classical Parisian architecture, it continues the aesthetic and spatial effects of classical Parisian architectural design of monumentality, line of sight and moments of
description
The disruption of Parisian architecture in the year 2062. Short fiction for an architectural theory course at Columbia University's NY/Paris Program.
Transcript of Fallacy of Parisian Time and Space: Paris 2062
01 02
It is the year 2062 and after living in Paris for the past fifty years, I have watched the city go through an epic identity crisis. There have been numerous attempts by the city to change the Parisian cityscape to reflect contemporary times, while also keeping the iconic image of the past. The Parisian authorities and residents realize the mistakes they have made in 2032, when people of Paris collectively decided to pass a law completely banning all contemporary architecture from the city proper. This measure also called for the destruction of existing buildings that did not fit the traditional Parisian look. The enforcement of the nostalgic imagery has been detrimental to the integrity of Paris as a city of power and influence in the world stage on serious current affairs. The lack of architectural innovation of the 2030’s became interpreted as the stagnation of Parisian society and was often mistaken as Paris’ indifference to be involved in new thoughts and ideas. The 2030’s depression in architectural development and innovation (of any kind for that matter) led the Parisian government to rigorously promote academia as part of its revitalization of Paris in hopes of becoming the capital of intellectualism and technology, as it once was more than a hundred years prior. By encouraging academics to come study and research in Paris, city officials hope the pool of intellectuals they helped nourish will bring Paris into the future in all areas, especially the built environment. This brought great attention to Parisian universities and large amount of funding was made available for intellectual endeavors in Paris. Contrary to the predictions of Marc Augé that “…all the universities of Paris were eliminated and replaced by vast campuses in the greater suburbs…”1, universities remained in the city proper and were celebrated with the newfound enthusiasm and respect. Space is finite and overcrowding of facilities became a problem, as there was a large influx of students and academics. With this sudden increase in population, the question of housing and property became a growing concern for the existing Parisian population. To address the problem of being labeled as architecturally old-fashioned as well as the flooding of academics into the city, Parisian official launched campaigns to modernize its environment, except this had to be done without the destruction or altercation of the existing buildings. All new architectural development in Paris were to be mobile, modular, and robotic in order to adhere to the city’s strict laws of architectural preservation and to address the increase in population density. University students now all live in robotic pods that function as their private room as well as their mode of transportation. The pods are designed to suit the students’ needs and activities,
FALLACY OF PARISIAN TIME AND SPACE
AN
NE
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Ioffering both convenience of travel and comfort of living all in one. By giving each student her own affordable mode of rapid and convenient transportation, it creates a personalized perception of the space and time relationship. The pods allows for the translation between ground, water, and air-travel by way of one vehicle (the pod can walk, sail, and fly) and the individual freedom of controlling travel through time and space. This new way of student living was – and still is – highly praised by all in Paris and the world. Parts of Paris were allocated for the pods to station themselves when at rest. The station points, or the nucleus (plural: nuclei), are structures housing recharge stations for the pods (the pods are solar as well as battery powered), facilities (such as kitchen and baths), and various other program, including cafes, laboratories, woodshops, gyms, and galleries. The nuclei are located in spaces that are often overlooked and uninhabited, also known as the in-between spaces of the city. Placing the student pods and the nuclei structure in overlooked areas of the city activates these abandoned spaces by introducing program and activities. In addition, the pods and nuclei allow for the discovery of the sublime in the most unattractive spaces of loud and busy boulevard intersections and streets, sidewalk parking lots, and narrow alleyways. The pod-nuclei system appeared on the streets of Paris only two years after its proposal to the city, as construction began right after the approval of the design in 2048. The eagerness of city officials and citizens to adopt the campaign to bring Paris into the future facilitated the quick turn-around from proposal to implementation of the pod-nuclei design. In addition, the nuclei models are all designed as kit-of-parts, where the entire form of the structure depends on aggregation and repetition of a few pre-casted units. The pre-fabricated building units allow for the economy of production and assembly, which is why the nuclei recharge stations appeared throughout the city practically overnight. The nuclei are monuments of their own right. As a matter of fact, the nuclei structures were designed to be the inhabitable monument as well as the ready-made. As Jean Baudrillard correctly assessed about modern – and future – architecture, “…under the impact of technology and sophisticated equipment everything is becoming ‘ready-made.’ All the elements to be combined are there already; they merely have to be rearranged on the stage, like most postmodern forms.” 2 As Paris is defined by monumentality, it will continue this tradition of building monuments by developing the ready-made monument with each nucleus structures. The pod-nuclei system brought even more tourism and publicity to the city, as if it did not already receive enough attention. People from all over the world came to visit Paris for its well-preserved traditional architecture as well as these robotic pods lining the streets, soaring across the skies, floating down the Seine, and mingling amongst automobiles in traffic. The sight of the machine, modular architecture against the backdrop of the Parisian buildings of the past is a physical manifestation of the fantastic and surreal, unique only to Paris and no place else. Paris became more Parisian not only through the preservation of the traditional and historic, but also through its architectural avant-garde spirit that it was able to revive by incorporating a new architectural element to the existing traditionalmarchitecture of classic Paris. Even though the pod-nuclei addition to the city does not aesthetically blend with the preserved classical Parisian architecture, it continues the aesthetic and spatial effects of classical Parisian architectural design of monumentality, line of sight and moments of
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surprise. The pods-nuclei became quickly became “Parisian,” since they are now considered as Parisian as the Haussmannian buildings and Guimard metro entrance. Postcards, promotional and travel brochures feature these student pods and nuclei structures. Mini versions of these machine architecture are produced and sold as souvenirs. Paris once again showed the world of its innovation and uniqueness. The success and popularity of the pods-nuclei system identified Paris as the ultimate city for innovation in the built environment and now serves as the place to look to for the modern and the creative. However, it would only be a matter of time when history repeats itself and Paris starts preserving the pods and nuclei structures along with the traditional architecture of more than a century ago. Like the Haussmannian buildings, pods and nuclei structure are now part of the iconic Parisian image and a century from now, they will be part of the nostalgic Paris. For now, the nuclei and their pods are waiting to be immortalized in the media and in our collective memories.
1 Augé, Marc. “Dream City”, The Impossible Journey, (Éditions Payot & Rivages, 1997), 173-185.
2 Baudrillard, Jean. “The Aesthetic Suicide: Truth or Radicality: On the Future of Architecture”, Mass,Identity, Architecture, (Wiley-Academy, 2006), 159-173.
IMAGES:Original images by Anne Wei
WORKS CITED:
PREVIOUS IMAGE Student pods floating on the Seine during sunset.
CURRENT IMAGE Student pods flying across the Parisian sky.
