PWW 33

O n April 15, 2019 Notre- Dame cathedral was in flames. The news shat- tered Parisians and the French people. As images were broadcast, emotion spread around the globe. Paris-lovers worldwide felt this pain. Notre-Dame is Paris, Paris is Notre-Dame. Paris is in every one of its great monuments. They narrate the city’s long histo- ry, the story of eachneighbourhood. The Abbaye de Saint-Germain- des-Prés, the oldest church inParis, shelters Merovingian tombs. The Benedictine abbey was reformed in the 17thcentury and later became an intellectual centre frequented by Hemingway andMan Ray. The Marais neighbourhood, whichdates to the 17th century, was one of the first conservation experiments conducted in the 60s under André Malraux, General de Gaulle’s Mi- nister of Culture. Monuments are inseparable from the neighbou- rhoods in which they reside. The oldestmonuments have trans- formed in harmony with the city, while themore recent ones embo- dy a dream of modernity and the avant-garde. Trocadéro and the Palais deChaillot, designed for the 1937 World’s Fair, reinvented the mythical vista over the esplanade to the 1889 Eiffel Tower, the uni- versal emblem of France. Every visitor to Paris has their own personal story with these monu- ments. The attachment of Parisians and visitors to this heritage is palpable: the European Heritage Days in September attract an ever- growing number of visitors. But we must also remember the buil- dings that have disappeared: the

numents. L’attachement de tous, parisiens ou voyageurs étrangers, est palpable : les Journées euro- péennes dupatrimoine chaquemois de septembre attirent toujours plus de visiteurs.Mais nous devons nous rappeler tous les édifices que nous n’avons pas su conserver. La perte des halles de Baltard, détruites dans les années 1970, quand cette architecture de fonte n’était pas considérée, a engagé un mouve- ment collectif de reconnaissance des patrimoines les plus récents. La gare d’Orsay, construite pour l’Exposition universelle de 1900 aurait dû être détruite. La sensi- bilité nouvelle à ces architectures a permis sa conservation grâce à l’invention d’un nouvel usage, le musée d’Orsay, l’un des plus grands musées au monde dédié aux arts du xix e siècle. Le patri- moine doit être conservé ; pour transmettre sa dimension sym- bolique, il faut parfois savoir lui renouveler son usage. Paris doit être visitée. Paris doit être parcourue. Le patrimoine mondial a reconnu les quais de la Seine pour sa valeur universelle. Paris est son fleuve, ses ponts et tous ses monuments. Paris doit être comprise comme un tout : des arrondissements centraux les plus anciens aux arrondissements périphériques agrégés à la ville de Paris en 1860, ponctués des grands équipements comme le parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Au- jourd’hui, Paris s’interroge sur ses limites, se réinvente avec le Grand Paris où se construisent les monuments de demain. Paris se densifie en reconstruisant la ville sur elle-même : suréléva- tion d’immeubles, constructions de parcelles encore vides, inven- tion de nouveaux quartiers sur des friches industrielles, sans oublier de préserver les patrimoines les plus fragiles qui, aux côtés des grands monuments, racontent la grande histoire de Paris. u

Halles Baltard, for example, was destroyed in the 1970s, when the cast iron structure was not consi- dered worthy of conservation. Its loss helped bring about a collective movement for recognising our re- cent heritage. The Gare d’Orsay train station, built for the 1900 World Fair, was also scheduled for demolition. Renewed appreciation of these buildings and their new uses has sanctioned their conser- vation. TheMusée d’Orsay is now one of the largest museums in the world dedicated to 19th century art. To transmit the symbolic di- mension of our heritage itmust be preserved, which sometimes re- quires renewing its purpose. Paris must be visited. Paris must be experienced. The banks of the Seine are now a World Heritage site recognised for their universal value. Paris is its river, its bridges, and all of its monuments. Paris must be taken as a whole: fromthe oldest central neighbourhoods to the peripheral arrondissements, made part of the city of Paris in 1860, and punctuated by public spacesliketheParcdesButtes-Chau- mont. With theGreater Paris pro- ject, the city is in the process of rethinking its boundaries to reinvent itself and building themonuments of the future. Paris is also becoming denser by rebuilding the city upwards: ad- ding floors to buildings, new constructions on empty plots, and creating newneighbourhoods from industrial wastelands. We must never forget to preserve our most fragile heritage, which, alongside the great monuments, narrates the history of Paris. u

«Paris est en chacun de ses grands monuments» “Paris is in each of its great monuments”

9 - PARIS WORLDWIDE SEPTEMBRE / OCTOBRE SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER

2019