Because the Eiffel Tower was not crazy enough
July 19, 2018 4:30 AM Subscribe
Architectural projects for Paris that did not see the light of the day, an ongoing collection by u/BringbackMarchais on r/France (MLReddit).
Some highlights:
Some highlights:
- An access ramp for the second floor of the Eiffel Tower (André Bas-devant, 1936), when cars were the future.
- An orientable roof-top airport (1938). Floating airports were apparently a thing.
- The Titan of Braavos, Napoléon-style, a triomphal bridge celebrating Napoléon (no date given).
- A 2000 m/6500 feet-high anti-aircraft tower (Lossier & Faure-Dujarric, 1937). It included three 150 m-long runways for scrambling fighters.
- A giant elephant on the Place de l'Etoile (Ribard, 1758). This project was revived by Napoléon but never went beyond a plaster model that stood on the less prestigious Place de la Bastille from 1813 to 1846 (it's featured in Les Misérables and in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge movie). The plaster elephant became a rat heaven, decayed, and was eventually removed.
- The Louvre Pyramid, in neo-aztec style (Lheureux, 1889). Probably I.M. Pei knew about this.
- Arche de la Défense (Pei, 1971). Not really more crazy that the actual one.
- The Lighthouse of the World, a 700 m/2300 feet tower (Fressynet, 1937), with an access ramp for cars (Wiki).
- The Halles pinball (student project, 1980).
- The Halles frog (Rottier, 1979). Frogzilla?
- The Twin Towers of La Défense (Saubot & Julien, early 1970s). Only one was built (the Tour Areva) and the second one was cancelled after the 1973 oil crisis. Two smaller towers, Les Mercuriales were built in Bagnolet in 1975.
Clicked on this preparing to laugh, quickly noticed Les autoroutes dans Paris intra-muros. Blanched and gave a muted scream.
La station centrale des aéronefs de Notre-Dame got me chuckling though. So wrong it's funny.
That Grande Arche de la Défense has some serious Bauhaus-ish post-modernism going on. While I like how it echoes the shape of the CNIT, I am also happy it was not built. The real one's squared-off, contemporary mirroring of the Arc de Triomphe is cool, I think.
posted by fraula at 5:59 AM on July 19, 2018
La station centrale des aéronefs de Notre-Dame got me chuckling though. So wrong it's funny.
That Grande Arche de la Défense has some serious Bauhaus-ish post-modernism going on. While I like how it echoes the shape of the CNIT, I am also happy it was not built. The real one's squared-off, contemporary mirroring of the Arc de Triomphe is cool, I think.
posted by fraula at 5:59 AM on July 19, 2018
Dodged a bullet on a lot of these. Having just been in Paris, I can't imagine how awful most of the ideas would be. Also, what is it with the Republican monuments all having pyramids? At least one looks like some Lovecraftian tomb from another plane.
posted by dellsolace at 6:38 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dellsolace at 6:38 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Les Halles frog is some of the laziest concept art I've ever seen, but I'm all about it.
posted by Think_Long at 7:39 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by Think_Long at 7:39 AM on July 19, 2018
That map of Paris with autoroutes cut through it is just horrifying. Imagine if instead of one périphérique running around the city you had about 20 running through the city, cutting each district off from the next.
Sometimes I dream that the Tour Montparnasse was abandonné. It would be a better world.
(Fantastic MeFi post, thank you.)
posted by Nelson at 7:52 AM on July 19, 2018
Sometimes I dream that the Tour Montparnasse was abandonné. It would be a better world.
(Fantastic MeFi post, thank you.)
posted by Nelson at 7:52 AM on July 19, 2018
The Lighthouse of the World
"Pleasure-Tower Half Mile High"
posted by BungaDunga at 8:36 AM on July 19, 2018
"Pleasure-Tower Half Mile High"
posted by BungaDunga at 8:36 AM on July 19, 2018
this is AWESOME! Is there a folder I can download for my desktop background?
posted by rebent at 9:22 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by rebent at 9:22 AM on July 19, 2018
Nelson: That map of Paris with autoroutes cut through it is just horrifying.
One city, at least, that Robert Moses and his disciples didn't get their hands on.
posted by clawsoon at 9:36 AM on July 19, 2018
One city, at least, that Robert Moses and his disciples didn't get their hands on.
posted by clawsoon at 9:36 AM on July 19, 2018
The orientable rooftop airport certainly seems foolproof...
For accuracy's sake I would correct a small attribution error: "design for a long orientable runway, which would be mounted on circular tracks atop tall buildings, as sketched above, has been conceived by a Frenchengineer eight-year-old boy."
posted by Naberius at 10:01 AM on July 19, 2018
For accuracy's sake I would correct a small attribution error: "design for a long orientable runway, which would be mounted on circular tracks atop tall buildings, as sketched above, has been conceived by a French
posted by Naberius at 10:01 AM on July 19, 2018
This reminds me of something that's been banging around my head for a while. Growing up, my summer vacation was in Northern England, and driving from Switzerland (where I grew up), we'd usually go via Calais (hovercraft ferries blew my young mind!), passing the outskirts of Paris on the way in.
My dad always made a point of noting, year-in-year-out, an unfinished "highway to nowhere" we'd drive past in/near Paris, but I can't for the life of me find anything about it. Anyone know what it was? This must've been mid-to-late 80s, IIRC.
posted by slater at 10:08 AM on July 19, 2018
My dad always made a point of noting, year-in-year-out, an unfinished "highway to nowhere" we'd drive past in/near Paris, but I can't for the life of me find anything about it. Anyone know what it was? This must've been mid-to-late 80s, IIRC.
posted by slater at 10:08 AM on July 19, 2018
My dad always made a point of noting, year-in-year-out, an unfinished "highway to nowhere"
Was it the Aerotrain elevated track to nowhere?
posted by elgilito at 10:12 AM on July 19, 2018
Was it the Aerotrain elevated track to nowhere?
posted by elgilito at 10:12 AM on July 19, 2018
omg the Eiffel Tower ramp looks like those Korean tornado potatoes.
posted by yueliang at 10:16 AM on July 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by yueliang at 10:16 AM on July 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Was it the Aerotrain elevated track to nowhere?
No, this was running right next to the highway we were on in/around Paris, and intended for cars.
posted by slater at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2018
No, this was running right next to the highway we were on in/around Paris, and intended for cars.
posted by slater at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2018
elgilito: "The Titan of Braavos, Napoléon-style, a triomphal bridge celebrating Napoléon (no date given). "
I like this in a "Gotham City in Tim Burton's Batman" way.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:02 PM on July 24, 2018
I like this in a "Gotham City in Tim Burton's Batman" way.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:02 PM on July 24, 2018
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Access ramp: looks like they tried to put a modern Arc du Triomphe on top on the Eiffel Tower.
Highways: Not sure how much of it was implemented, but Robert Auzelle also tried to do something like that in here in the 50s; he didn't go ahead because of economic pressure and would cause a lot of displacement from the historic center because he wanted to level it for parking spaces. His idea of creating multiple centers connected by avenues is more or less my shit.
X Bridge: I want one
Rotating airport: What if we combined the concerns of landing on smaller airports with the concern of landing on top of a populated area?
Underground city: I too wait patiently for a Fallout set in Europe.
Le Corbusier stadium: The French delle Alpi
posted by lmfsilva at 5:02 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]