No photos, please, no photos!
Our time in London ended yesterday with a rockstar exit from the hotel in Paddington via two black Mercedes vans. Nic was not impressed by all the press attention …
On the Eurostar Katelin made us all work hard prepping articles for ArchitectureAU.com. In reality we were all distracted by the wine and food service (a pleasant surprise), so she was the only one who really did any work!
Arriving in Paris our bus to the hotel was delayed. While we waited, Oliver, the Dulux dog, went on a little journey in the hands of a thief! I decided to chase after the guy – probably not the smarted thing in the world to do. I think he heard me coming so just put his arm out and he gave me the bag back. I’m not sure if he was trying not to cause a fuss or maybe I am just really scary?
The afternoon was our designated day off. We spent the afternoon lounging together in the Mama Shelter Hotel bar located in the 20th arrondissement with the amazing Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture abandoned railway by our side.
Clap clap, time to get up!
Day seven actually begins!
First task of the day, while riding the bus on our way to the walking tour of Paris, was to complete the Myers Briggs personality test. Why would such a topic come up on an architectural study tour? Simple. Jill, a friend of both Katelin and I who lives in Paris (and also writes for ArchitectureAU), will be joining us on our final night. In preparation for this we have decided to present her with our results. Jill is obsessed with personality testing.
The results:
INTJ – Amber
ENTJ – Daniela
ENFJ – Katelin
ENFJ – Monique
INFJ – John
INFJ – Jordy
ESFJ – Casey
ESFJ – Sarah
INTP – Ni
ENTP – Phil
INFP – Bonnie
What does this all mean!? Stay tuned.
Our walking tour guide for the day was the lovely Benjamin from Guiding Architects.
First stop was the National Library of France by Dominique Perrault and James Stirling. This was one of President François Mitterrand first “nation building” projects. I thought of it as a castle for books. Four large archival towers in each corner linked horizontally on the lower levels by offices, reading spaces, and more archival rooms. Like a castle, in the centre was an external space. The external space was a beautiful forest (with no access except for gardeners). Some of the crew found the space sterile and struggled with its lack of connection with the public realm, especially the forest within. The detailing, I must say, was exceptional.
We then crossed a footbridge over the Seine that beautifully dealt with access from upper and lower entries in each side of the bank.
Walking further around this district (a former rail yard), we came across a formerly disused cold store that was taken over by artists. The coordinator of the building appeared and gave an impromptu talk on what was going on and the issues they are facing.
Surrounding this site were new Docklands-esque developments. They were cold and without personality. How will these projects evolve? How long will it take? There was even a Le Corbusier building currently being renovated.
A metro ride took us to the French icons we all studied in school – The Arab Institute by AS.Architecture-Studio and Jean Nouvel. Nic was reminded about how he built a model of the building and facade for a technology subject at school.
Full with Croque Monsieurs, we took another Metro ride to the west of Paris to La Défense.
After meandering through a business district comprising a sea of glass and steel towers built in the 1980s, we came across a gem: a social housing project known as Tours Aillaud. Built in the 1970s and (amazingly) named after the architect, the cloud-shaped towers are clad in colourful tiles and are positioned among lush, sail-lined pathways and trees.
Last stop on the waking tour was Gehry’s new glass Ark for Noah … oh no, I mean €500,000 art gallery for the Louis Vuitton Foundation. I couldn’t help but feel like if been the in same building (almost exactly the same) in Bilbao …
We finished the day with dinner and drinks at a restaurant that had been recommended by about five locals Palais de Tokyo.
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