Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Front de Seine

The Front de Seine neighborhood on Paris' Left Bank was developed in the 1970s as a mix of high-rise residential and commercial buildings. It's quite striking from a distance, but I never really got a feel for how to move through the space when I lived in Paris. Apparently, the public plazas and walkways have been improved in a recent renovation.

The bridge in the background is a railroad bridge for the suburban commuter line C of the RER (Réseau Express Régional).

Of course, I didn't really have much reason to spend time in this part of town back in the early 1980s, aside from curiosity about what it all was. I was always fascinated by cities, but I wouldn't start formal studies in architecture and urban planning until the late '80s.

A view of Front de Seine through the structure of the Pont de Bir-Hakeim.

These two views are taken from the Bir-Hakeim bridge, upstream from the development. Most of the towers were built in the 1970s, but the development's final building, la Tour Cristal, was constructed in 1990.

4 comments:

  1. I wonder what that very tall (the tallest in the set) slender structure is? A bell tower? A cell phone tower? The perspective from the Bir-Hakeim makes a very nice contrast of centuries.

    ReplyDelete
  2. In your photos there appears to be something so open and inviting about the undersides of these bridge structures. Very unusual.

    ReplyDelete
  3. some day I hope to see this city.

    ReplyDelete
  4. kiwi, that, I read, is a smokestack for the underground heating plant.

    mitch, I'm not sure I've thought about that...

    michael, I hope you do!

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!