Around la Defense

[Minato Ku]

The areas around la Defense are maybe more interesting than the pedestrian dalle itself

Picture taken at 2 p.m, everyone work. It is empty.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31. Just after the lunch time it is very empty.

32.

33. SoGen buildings.

34.

35.

36. Seine Arche, officially not in la Defense

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42. One hour before this place was surely crowded

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.


The next time the Northern part, maybe more interresting and a lot denser.

[Nantais]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

49.

Guess what ?
I live in this building !

[Bergenser]

La Defence is looking nice as always.

Originally Posted by Nantais

Guess what ?
I live in this building !

That's cool.

[Grumpy]

About 3 years ago I took several walks around LD in the summer.
I really was impressed by the huge contrasts some streets where giving from a distance.
Nowadays the new low buildings built around LD are so numerous people really don't know how wide spread the area is.

[Fabb]

The ouskirts of LD should be filled with supertall residential buildings. That would alleviate the traffic significantly during rush hours and add much needed life after hours.

[Minato Ku]

I agree even if I like the traffic during the rush hour.
La Defense (and Paris at whole) lacks of new residencial towers.

[themapman]

Much cooler tour than the pedestrian pavement area. Thanks for the pics.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Fabb

The ouskirts of LD should be filled with supertall residential buildings. That would alleviate the traffic significantly during rush hours and add much needed life after hours.

Start to demolish the Boieldieu blocks and replace those

[WilliamTheArtist]

This thread brings me back to the thread we have where everyone is arguing over "american sprawl" versus "european sprawl" and development. Though la Defense is not sprawl, it certainly is new development that is lacking a pedestrian friendly environment. Even though some posters say its because the area lacks in residential towers. The old parts of the city that are alive, do not have residential towers. My guess is that the busy street scenes we see in other parts of Paris are because of several factors. Mixed use buildings, and pedestrian friendly streets to name two.

Pedestrian friendly streets are streets with street level retail and very importantly are architecturally welcoming, interesting and invite you to stay and linger. They offer a comfortable environment to walk past and stay in. A lot of modern architecture is cold and uninviting, has blank walls and is often not of human scale. Looks pretty in photos and renderings but doesnt "live" well, as a day to day setting.

But having said that... At least there, unlike many cities in the US that are almost all new, you can go around the corner so to speak, and be in a different kind of environment.

I did find it shocking when I visited Paris I was speaking with a young person who was from another part of Europe who was also visiting Paris. He mentioned how he wanted to go check out la Defense. I was like... "Why?" He said he wanted to see the modern architecture there. The "glass buildings". I had never thought of it before, but to someone like him who probably lived around older architecture most of the time may find the new stuff as interesting as I found the old architecture lol. Someone like me who is used to trecking around midwestern American cities all their lives, Dallas, OKC, Tulsa, Denver,,,, where just about EVERYTHING is new, the last thing that I would go to Paris to see would be more new glass buildings and boring streets.

[Minato Ku]

Don't be wrong la Defense is far to be the only place in Paris where is there is modern building.
La Defense business district will have 50 years old this years, I would not call it modern.
Many districts in Paris are a lot younger.

The probleme of la Defense it is that everything is "underground" (not really underground but it is the same impression), there is a big crowded comercial center, a big crowded station... There is not a lack of street rentail. The pedestrian dalle is not well integrated at the the rest of the city.
There is not a lack of people. 500,000 people who commute everyday per la Defense.
Fortunaly there is a lot of improvemenent and so many projects to make la Defense more human.

The old parts of the city that are alive, do not have residential towers

A false fact, the main Parisian chinatown is vibrant, crowded on saturday and very lively the sunday, and it mainly composed by residencial towers when the 7th arrondissement mainly composed by old buildings and monument is unvibrant, boring and empty (the week and the week end).
The 8th arrondissemens (exepted the Champs Elysee) is empty the week end.

So the problem is not the modern architecture or the high-rises, the main problem of la Defense is the Dalle, One of biggest failure of the 70's urban planning.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

La Defense business district will have 50 years old this years, I would not call it modern.

No festivities planned for 2009 ?
A decent book would be a good start