Multiple Ways to Read One Place (PARIS)

“The aesthetic object is historical just to the extent that it allows itself, not without resistance, to be dragged along and explained by history, while in turn expressing history in some way.”

-Mikel Dufrenne, "The Phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience"

Paris, France has many overlaying organizational structures. The old image of the city, until the mid 19th century, with its dark, thin streets, saw demolition of old neighbourhoods, huge cuts for new avenues and large open nodes where they connect. The work of Georges-Eugène Haussmann dramatically altered the feel of Paris. For a feel of how it must have felt to feel this extreme alteration to the image of Paris, I recommend Émile Zola’s novel The Belly of Paris, where a man, Florent, returns to the city after foreign imprisonment. During his time away, the work of Haussmann has occurred and we see his shock and disillusionment with the “new” city. His accustomed communication with the city, his home, has been deeply altered.

Politically speaking, Paris has a different form. 20 districts, arrondissements, spiral clockwise from the political and cultural center of the city. As these are distinctive civic groups, they help to define the city’s neighbourhoods, and often result in distinctive cultural and economic areas. While not always visible when on the ground, wandering about, they affect the path we take. As an example, I would point out Jean Renoir’s 1932 film Boudu Saved from Drowning. In this film, the main character begins in a park at the west end of the city. Wandering through the city, he stops at the 1st district, at the very center of Paris. Here, he jumps into the river and is saved. At the end of the film, he is again in a park, but at the east end. His absolute defiance at respecting and following the district structure of Paris by following the River Seine, as well as his ignorance to his locality when he tries to jump into the river at the heart of the city, show his own external nature to the political or economic structure of Paris. He follows the major geographic structure; the river that divides the metropolis.

From design to political and economic structures, to geography, the path we choose to follow, defy or ignore when wandering through a city tells us as much about ourselves as it does about where we are. The multiplicity of a city like Paris, which follows a number of possible understandings – only some of which were mentioned above – allows each of us to form our own path.

Among both times I visited Paris, I followed the same route, as mentioned in the last entry, because the same things caught my attention. These may have been interesting buildings and spaces, like Charles Garnier’s Opera House and the Palais of the World’s Fair, luxury shopping like the Hermès boutique or the Aston Martin dealership on the Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or combinations of space and luxury goods like Place Vendôme or Les Galleries Lafayette Haussmann. These represent a small example of things that might interest me, but help to guide a path. One day, headed towards the modern architectural wonderland of La Défense, from the central city, I took a 4 hour meandering west-ish route, constantly distracted by museums, cafés, small hilly streets, galleries and parks. Every thing along the way is permitted to get in the way of my goal.

Having an understanding of a city, whether visiting or inhabiting, has been helpful in my urban wanderings. With prior understanding of a city’s organizational structures, whether intentional (designed) or unintentional (evolving), as well as important landmarks of any type (buildings, cultural elements and spaces, shopping, eating, etc.), wandering can become more focused and the communication more direct. Like learning a new language, it’s often better to learn some of the structure and grammar first, before trying a conversation with a native speaker. The same happens with a city; some knowledge will help when moving through it.

Like the French garden style (epitomized at Versailles), the avenues of Paris cut straight lines between solid edges, framing something particular in the distance. Before you go there, your imagination is on its way.

Paris's grand vistas help to locate yourself. Monuments like La Place de La Concorde help with way-finding and orientation, as well as connecting several avenues.

Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, I was intrigued by how European cities can be so dense but have so much open space. This topic will be further discussed in a future post, though

Something interesting at a corner. When I saw this, I walked towards this building. I wanted to see the material and pattern. When I get there, something else will grab my attention, alleviating me of deciding which way to go when these are, right now, equal options.4

When wandering in a city, going inside is part of the path. Here, I saw a shopping mall, what turned out to be the most beautiful shopping mall I had ever seen. For reference, this is Les Galleries Lafayette.

Just remember that inside every rock might be a crystal. The outside of this mall is *another* beautiful Haussmann-era building, much alike to so many others. But the exterior of the beautiful oyster is only a hint, or perhaps a disguise, for the pearl that is the space inside.

That is to say, wander in, out, around, anywhere you want to (and can) go.