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La Défense
Friday, 1/16/09
La Défense is glorious. It is like no other place I’ve ever seen, with its clean, sweeping lines and open courtyards. It sits at the westernmost edge of Paris, where once there was nothing but farmland and countryside. It’s as if Parisians, proud of their quaint, classical little apartments and their old churches, shunted all of their skyscrapers to one small business district—actually, it’s exactly that. Just outside of the métro stop is la Grande Arche, a 100-m tall cube without a center. It sits on the axe historique, the line that runs from the Louvre and through the Obélisque at Place de la Concorde and then to l’Arc de Triomphe at Place de l’Etoile, but it is turned at a slight angle due to practical considerations. Skyscrapers soar up all around, magnificent monuments of glass and metal. In keeping with the theme of modernity, a few contemporary sculptures adorn the district, such as a red stabile by Alexander Calder. A waterfall with colored tiles sits further along, and we went beneath it to look at the pumps that keep the water flowing. The most fascinating, out-of-place sculpture is the classical one that gives the district its name, a sculpture that would have looked perfectly natural anywhere else in Paris.
Naturally, the district met with great opposition at its inception, and to draw people to it, a mega-mall was built around the métro stop. I don’t see why it needed something to draw people, though. Through a system of underground layers, the district is kept empty of cars, and thus it is quiet and free of pollution. Each generation of skyscrapers is more and more environmentally friendly, too. Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of everyday life. There are apartment buildings, but not much to do on a Friday night, for example. Despite the chic, ultra-modern setting, la Défense is probably a better place to work than to live.
Click here to hear Sophie introducing us to La Défense!
K.B.