The history of Les Halles, dating back almost 900 years, is so long and eventful that it could well form the basis of a soap opera. The official opening of the Canopée, i.e. part of this huge complex, "saddling" the transport hub, marks the beginning of another season of the endless architecture series.
The same age as Moscow
The first shopping malls appeared at this place in 1135, when Paris began to actively grow in a northerly direction. The drainage of the marshy area of the right bank of the Seine opened up new opportunities for construction, and Louis VI moved the market and warehouses from the Isle of Cité to the Champeau hill. The market grew and expanded, and in 1534 Francis I made a determined attempt to streamline the spontaneous trade. By his order, dilapidated buildings were demolished, and new houses with arcades were erected on the redesigned territory, surrounding small market squares. These buildings existed until the middle of the 19th century, when they were sacrificed for another modernization. In 1808, driving through the central quarters of Paris, Napoleon I was unpleasantly struck by the picture of wretched, blackened buildings from time to time and unsanitary conditions reigned around. Work on the punching of the Rue de Rivoli was in full swing, and the emperor commissioned the architect Pierre Fontaine to bring the market into proper shape. However, due to endless wars and the subsequent fall of Bonaparte, these plans had to be postponed until better times.
"Better times" came only in 1845, when Victor Baltar and Felix Kalle were commissioned to draw up a new project. Due to the revolution of 1848 and political upheavals, construction began only in 1851, but the result - a heavy stone structure - disappointed Napoleon III. Everyone, including the emperor, had time to admire the newly opened Saint-Lazare train station, whose 40-meter wide landing stage was blocked by single-span metal trusses. "Umbrellas, only umbrellas, and made of metal!" - this was the directive of the monarch. The construction of Baltar and Kalle was subjected to fierce criticism not only "from above", but also from other architects who came up with their own proposals (the most innovative - in the form of a complex of three single-span halls - was presented in 1844 by the engineer Hector Oro). The finished building was dismantled, and instead a new project by the same authors was carried out, which almost completely met the requirements of the time. Almost, because they had to abandon the idea of building underground railway lines, which would ensure the delivery of goods without interfering with street traffic. 10 of the 12 fully glazed pavilions were built one by one in 1854-1874, two more were added in 1936. Along with the Eiffel Tower, Les Halles was recognized as one of the most remarkable works of the "Iron Age" architecture, and the market itself, celebrated by Emile Zola, has become a truly iconic place.
Pandora's pit
However, on February 27, 1969, the centuries-old history of the "Womb of Paris" was interrupted - by the decision of the government and the city council, the central wholesale market moved to the southern suburb of Rangis. In the summer of 1971, the demolition of the empty pavilions began, which could not be prevented despite the violent protests of the townspeople and cultural figures. The memory of the place was completely erased, and from now on it was supposed to write history from scratch.
Why did such a "brutal" scenario come true, which is hardly possible in our time? The fact is that the decision to move the market outside of Paris was made in the early 1960s - at the height of the Glorious Thirty Years, the era of post-war modernization of France. The capital was to undergo a radical reconstruction, the main goal of which was the elimination of numerous "ulcers" and the creation of a new, modern (ie modernist) city, befitting the greatness of the Fifth Republic. Ottoman Paris should, if not give way to Paris de Gaulle, then at least make room, standing on a par with him. A huge territory northeast of the Louvre and right up to the train stations, which consisted of not the most prosperous quarters, was in for a radical restructuring. Le Corbusier's Plan Voisin, which shocked society in the 1920s, did its job by stimulating the transformation of attitudes towards the historic city.
In 1965, plans were approved for the construction of RER lines, running through Paris from north to south and west to east and connecting underground railway lines. The diameters were supposed to intersect at Châtelet - Les Halles, where a powerful junction was formed, uniting stations of three RER lines and five metro lines. It was intended to build it in the least costly open way; accordingly, part of the market pavilions would have to be dismantled. Nothing prevented us from preserving all twelve, dismantling them for the duration of underground construction, and then restoring them in their original place. However, the entire area, which included the nearby Beaubourg plateau, was already considered by the government as a field for wide urban planning gestures: it was here that it was supposed to build a World Trade Center with offices, hotels, shops and cultural and entertainment functions, and here the Ministry of Finance, which occupied part of the Louvre, was to be transferred. The dismantling of Baltar's structures was not just a matter of decision, but not subject to revision. Even when the American millionaire philanthropist Orrin Hein offered to buy the pavilions in order to move them to a new location, the authorities went on principle, refusing to sell them, as they considered the deal humiliating for the French state. Only the eighth pavilion was "pardoned", which was transported to the eastern suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne. This was the general background, which did not change with the departure of de Gaulle and the election of Georges Pompidou, who continued the previous urban planning course.
As further history showed, the task, which at first seemed simple, turned into a shaped puzzle. The Le Hal project involved many players with great ambitions, but with different interests: states, cities, merchants, bankers, transport workers, cultural figures, architects, etc. None of them had a decisive advantage, so it was extremely difficult, and the search for a compromise stretched out for many years, resulting in a series of proposals replacing and complementing each other.
In addition, the reconstruction of Le Hal was based on a time bomb in the form of a powerful interchange hub in the historic center. Nowadays, such decisions, leading to the concentration of people in the old city, are considered a gross urban planning mistake, which leads to large, almost insoluble problems. And they did not hesitate to appear with the opening of a transport hub and a shopping complex.
In 1967, on the initiative of André Malraux, the most influential figure in French politics and culture, a custom-made competition was held, the so-called. competition of 6 models, which marked the beginning of a protracted process of creating a new complex. Six teams (Louis Arretch, Claude Charpentier, Marot and Trembleau, Jean Faugeron, Louis de Oim de Maurienne and AUA) presented projects for the development of the Les Halles - Beaubourg plateau. All proposals were characterized by radicalism (albeit to varying degrees), completely or partially ignoring the surroundings and deforming the landscape of the old city. And all of them were rejected by the city council under a plausible pretext: they say, it is premature to "paint" architecture without having decided on the layout. In the summer of 1969, the planning scheme of the quarter was approved, which determined the location of the transport hub and the shopping complex above it. In the same 1969, Georges Pompidou decided to build a new center for contemporary art on the Beaubourg plateau.
At the turn of the sixties-seventies, there was a surge in design: many projects were developed - both custom-made and initiative ones. Nevertheless, the choice of architects for individual parts of the complex was not made on a competitive basis, but directly by the organizations responsible for their implementation. The RER station was designed by the architecture department of the Paris Transport Administration RATP (with the participation of Paul Andreu), and the first stage of Le Hal - by Claude Vasconi and Georges Pancreac, invited by the public-private development company SEMAH (Society with Mixed Economy for the Development of Les Halles).
Construction of the transport hub began in 1972, and almost at the same time, the program of the first stage of Le Hal, located directly above the station, was determined. Vasconi and Pancreak designed a giant "crater" with glass arcaded walls. As conceived by the architects, the "cascades" of stained-glass windows were supposed to illuminate four underground levels, on which the Forum des Halles shopping complex, opened in 1979, was located.
Public outrage at the defeat of the "Womb of Paris" and active proactive design did not pass without leaving a trace, and in 1974 the new French President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, who, unlike Pompidou, adhered to a more conservative view of urban planning, refused to build an International Trade Center in the western parts of the complex in favor of the House of Music underground and a park on the surface. Ricardo Bofill was entrusted with the implementation of this idea, who by that time had made a turn towards postmodernism in his work.
However, in 1977, Paris receives municipal autonomy, which it has been deprived of since 1871, and the French state loses its decisive vote in the creation of the complex. The newly elected mayor, Jacques Chirac, being Giscard's main political opponent, proclaimed himself the "chief architect" of Les Halles. He abandoned the already partially completed Bofill project, keeping only the idea of the park. The erected structures, covering the Vasconi and Pancreac craters on three sides, were dismantled and replaced by two-storey umbrella-shaped pavilions faced with mirrored glass, which housed exhibition halls and art workshops (designed by engineer Jean Villeval).
The construction of the second, western, stage of the complex - Square Square (also known as the New Forum of Les Halles) - was carried out according to the project of Paul Shemetov, who succeeded in one of the most powerful statements on the theme of the underground in modern architecture. Piranesian spaces evoke many allusions (from ancient cisterns to the biomorphic buildings of Nervi and Saarinen). Shemetov himself, in his own words, drew inspiration from the Gothic architecture of the nearby Church of Saint-Eustache, the buttresses and pointed arches of which he skillfully, avoiding literal quotation, played in reinforced concrete. In general, the New Forum gives the impression of a large fragment of an ancient, historically formed city, parts of which have organically grown into a single whole. In addition to shops, this part of Les Halles houses an auditorium, a swimming pool, a gym, a video library and a multiplex (instead of the Cousteau aquarium, which turned out to be unprofitable). Shemetov's project, carried out in 1980-1986, was warmly received by critics and the public and to a large extent rehabilitated the entire complex in the eyes of the public.
A year later, a garden was laid out on the roof of the New Forum, which played the role of a proscenium surrounded by large masses of the stock exchange rotunda, the Vasconi-Pancreac "crater" and the Church of Saint-Estache. Its authors Louis Arretsch, who also participated in the “competition of 6 layouts,” and François Lalan interpreted the theme of a classic French park in the language of postmodernism in his modern language.
The hunt for change
As often happens with modern buildings, after a short time after the opening, the complex is morally and physically obsolete. The interchange hub, one of the largest in Europe, handles up to 800 thousand people every day and has long been working with overloads. The platforms and lounges above them are unsafe, since they are not designed for such a number of passengers. The underground anthill with labyrinths of galleries, despite the commercial success, fell in love with unemployed youth from the suburbs and drug dealers (in the seventies, when the complex was created, the social composition of the suburbs was much more respectable than today). Forum Vasconi and Pancreak, "umbrellas" of Villerval and pergolas of Arretch and Lalland began to decay, frightening off a respectable audience and attracting marginalized people. Gradually degrading, Le Hal began to "radiate" trouble to the surrounding neighborhoods.
The municipality has put up with this situation for a while, but Le Hal is too prominent a place in the city that cannot be ignored. For many visitors visiting the capital, this is the first thing they see in Paris. Bertrand Delanoe, who was elected mayor in 2001, had to make decisions about the future of the complex. Updating Le Hal was not part of his program, but the situation required intervention. In 2004, a custom competition was held for a project for the reconstruction of the entire complex with the participation of four teams: OMA, MVRDV, Jean Nouvel and the Seura bureau under the leadership of David Mangin. The architects were assigned the following tasks. First, it was necessary to improve the efficiency of the transport infrastructure by making it easier for citizens to access the metro and reducing the number of motorways. Secondly, redevelop open spaces by increasing the amount of green space. Thirdly, to propose a replacement for the Vasconi-Pancreac “crater” and Villerval's “umbrellas” - so that there would be a place to place both the music school, located in one of the pavilions, and the library.
Mangen's winning project formally met these requirements. Instead of the cramped Vasconi-Pancreac forum, a spacious atrium was built connecting the store levels in the eastern part of Les Halles with the RER station and the Shemetovsky sector. Interior spaces were streamlined, and natural light penetrated deep into the ground. From the north and south, the forum was built up with buildings, which would easily accommodate the "residents" of the Villerval pavilions. The whole thing was covered with a thin slab of glass and concrete.
Choosing the winner, Delanoe had to make a Solomon decision. On the one hand, I wanted to immortalize my name with a bright building. On the other hand, the mayor's office has to coordinate many interests (first of all, the owners of retail space and local residents), and the "star" project is fraught with risks. Therefore, of the four proposals, the least radical and expressive project Seura was chosen. In fact, the slab that covered the square section of the eastern part of the block was the only architectural gesture. However, Mangin's victory was Pyrrhic - his project was accepted only as a general concept for the reconstruction of Les Halles, while a separate competition was announced for the square section of the eastern sector in the hope of a more "eloquent" statement. At the same time, the reconstruction of the underground transport hub was taken out of the competition program, suggesting the development of a separate project.
Out of more than 100 projects submitted for the 2007 competition,
the option of Patrick Berger and Jacques Anzutti was chosen, which was eventually implemented. Building on Mangin's idea of overlapping the Forum, the architects have designed a colossal curved steel structure that covers the entire 2.5 hectare site. As the name of the project suggests (“Canopée” - the upper layer of the forest), the authors tried to imitate the shape and structure of the tree crown with architectural and technical means. The biomorphic outline design rests on two identical buildings, spanning the vast atrium between them, which unites the underground and above-ground levels of the complex. The space between the buildings connects Kossonri Street with the park and the exchange rotunda. This passage is a clear echo of projects at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, in which the market and the Beaubourg plateau formed a single whole; after the opening of the Pompidou Center, this idea died out.
In addition to shops and cafes, which occupied the lion's share of the area, the new buildings housed cultural institutions, both old ones that moved from the demolished Villerval pavilions (music school, library) and new ones (hip-hop center, school of arts and crafts), focused primarily on, on the youth from the suburbs. Unfortunately, cultural functions are inferior to trade and restaurants not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively: the latter took the best places on the ground floors, while schools and libraries are forced to huddle upstairs in not the most attractive premises.
Berger and Anziutti's ambition to play bionic high-tech in Le Hal was promising, but the end result is disappointing. Compared to the design artwork, in which Canopée looked like a graceful, dynamic shell, the implementation looks rough, heavy and oversaturated with details. Instead of a bird's feather, it turned out to be a trilobite shell. The creamy yellow color in which the structures are painted does not help either: the atrium is not flooded with light, but rather resembles the entrance to a cave. It seems that an extremely difficult task was set before the designers, and they were constrained in funds. Although the construction price of 236 million euros (the reconstruction of the entire complex is estimated at 1 billion euros) suggests otherwise. It would still be possible to come to terms with the heaviness if the roof was made exploitable - excellent views open up from above.
Alas, in terms of its artistic level, the creation of Berger and Anzutti is infinitely far from the buildings of Baltar, Eiffel or Freyssinet. Instead of an architectural masterpiece, which is required by such an important place for the city, Paris received a "eyesore", getting rid of which will not happen soon and will cost a fortune. The next stage of the reconstruction of Le Halle is the opening in 2018 of an updated transport hub, which should become somewhat more convenient and attractive. We look forward to the new season of "The Womb of Paris".
