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Paris (France) Gare d'Austerlitz and the railway land out of use "Paris - The Architecture and Utopia"
In 1989 Paris celebrated a 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Part of the celebration was the exhibition "Paris - Architecture and Utopia." About 60 "neo-modern" architects and designers were asked to design an architectural intervention for one of 11 empty sites in Paris.
In 1989 Paris celebrated a 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Part of the celebration was the exhibition "Paris - Architecture and Utopia." About 60 "neo-modern" architects and designers were asked to design an architectural intervention for one of 11 empty sites in Paris.
The site which I have chosen was Gare d'Austerlitz with its huge railway land out of use. The railway station is situated in the city-centre, though it does not belong to the city but to the road and thus remains peripheral. The order of the road intrudes upon the order of urban planning - mutually incompatible, but nevertheless complementary. From the confrontation of the two orders arises the quality which itself deserves preservation. But is it possible to preserve this area (or any other area) as an independent, closed surface by means of architecÂture alone? Paradoxically, the most durable architecture, that is architecture resistant not only to time but also to people, is either monumental or ephemeral. That is why I have decided that the best idea for the preservation of Gare d'austerlitz could be a temporary monument or monumental temporariness, "suspended" over the area.
The site which I have chosen was Gare d'Austerlitz with its huge railway land out of use. The railway station is situated in the city-centre, though it does not belong to the city but to the road and thus remains peripheral. The order of the road intrudes upon the order of urban planning - mutually incompatible, but nevertheless complementary. From the confrontation of the two orders arises the quality which itself deserves preservation. But is it possible to preserve this area (or any other area) as an independent, closed surface by means of architecÂture alone? Paradoxically, the most durable architecture, that is architecture resistant not only to time but also to people, is either monumental or ephemeral. That is why I have decided that the best idea for the preservation of Gare d'austerlitz could be a temporary monument or monumental temporariness, "suspended" over the area.
In a historical sense, this area has always been reaching towards outer borders: first, simply traversing the city outskirts; than dispatching its old trains to the infinity of towns and places on the world map so that finally it becomes itself a map on whose relief surface the innumerable (dis) connections can be written. As the railway map of the universe, it also reflects mappe coelorum. which is to say it becomes a cathedral, too.
In a historical sense, this area has always been reaching towards outer borders: first, simply traversing the city outskirts; than dispatching its old trains to the infinity of towns and places on the world map so that finally it becomes itself a map on whose relief surface the innumerable (dis) connections can be written. As the railway map of the universe, it also reflects mappe coelorum. which is to say it becomes a cathedral, too.
What does a cathedral have in common with the French Revolution? I have asked Michalet, one of France's great nineteenth-century historians: "there is never anything but two great phenomena, two principles, two actors and two persons, Christianity and the Revolution:" (Barthes 1987: 60).They are "like salient and reentering angles, symmetrically opposed, if not mutually hostile" (ibid). But even opposed, they don't create a pair: the Revolution itself is constructed as the incarnation of Christianity...Alas, in the haste of revolutionary movement, destruction and beheading, the Revolution did not manage to erect its own cathedral. But on its 200th birthday, it could be given a present: the Cathedral of the Revolution!
What does a cathedral have in common with the French Revolution? I have asked Michalet, one of France's great nineteenth-century historians: "there is never anything but two great phenomena, two principles, two actors and two persons, Christianity and the Revolution:" (Barthes 1987: 60).They are "like salient and reentering angles, symmetrically opposed, if not mutually hostile" (ibid). But even opposed, they don't create a pair: the Revolution itself is constructed as the incarnation of Christianity...Alas, in the haste of revolutionary movement, destruction and beheading, the Revolution did not manage to erect its own cathedral. But on its 200th birthday, it could be given a present: the Cathedral of the Revolution!
So, the first three towers: the Tower of the Fall of Bastille, that is the Tower of Liberte: then the Cathedral Tower, reminiscent of Rodin's sculpture (two hands with a space between them) - the Tower of Fraternite: finally, the guillotine Tower - the Tower of Eqalitle. From these three towers, over the preserved railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz, there are running three bridges (the cathedral naves), through which one can reach the apse by car: the park of 200 Jacobean trees, enclosed between the sky of freedom and the river of blood.
So, the first three towers: the Tower of the Fall of Bastille, that is the Tower of Liberte: then the Cathedral Tower, reminiscent of Rodin's sculpture (two hands with a space between them) - the Tower of Fraternite: finally, the guillotine Tower - the Tower of Eqalitle. From these three towers, over the preserved railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz, there are running three bridges (the cathedral naves), through which one can reach the apse by car: the park of 200 Jacobean trees, enclosed between the sky of freedom and the river of blood.
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