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 (RĂ©seau Express RĂ©gional).

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.

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

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  3. some day I hope to see this city.

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  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!

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