Paris Under Construction

Paris Under Construction
Author: Jacob Paskins
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2015-12-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1317379454

During the 1960s, building sites in Paris became spaces that expressed preoccupations about urban transformation, labour immigration and national identity. As new buildings and infrastructure changed the city, building sites revealed the substandard living and working conditions of migrant construction workers in France. Moreover, construction was the touchstone in debates about the dangers of urban life, and triggered action in communities whose districts faced demolition. Paris Under Construction explores the social, political and cultural responses to construction work and urban transformation in the Paris metropolitan region during the 1960s. This examination of a decade of intensive building work considers the ways in which the experience of construction was mediated, produced and reproduced through a range of complex and sometimes contradictory representations. The building sites that produced the new Paris are no longer visible, and were perhaps never intended to be seen, yet different groups closely observed and recorded construction, giving it meanings that went beyond specific building activities. The research draws extensively on French newspaper, television and radio archives, and delves into rarely examined trade union material. Paris Under Construction gives voice to the witnesses of—and participants in—urban transformation who are usually excluded from architectural and urban history.

Paris versus New York

Paris versus New York
Author: Vahram Muratyan
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-01-31
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0143120255

"In his witty, high-concept, high-colored flibook, Mr. Muratyan's thesis emerges playfully on every page: Vive la différence!" -- The New York Times A beautiful gift book of a popular travel journal as told by a lover of Paris wandering through New York When Vahram Muratyan began his online travel journal, Paris versus New York, he had no idea how quickly it would become one of the most buzzed-about sites on the Internet—it garnered more than a million and a half page views in just a few months, and the attention of savvy online critics. Now Muratyan presents his unique observations in this delightful book, featuring visually striking graphics paired with witty, thought-provoking taglines that celebrate the special details of each city. Paris versus New York is a heartfelt gift to denizens of both cities and to those who dream of big-city romance.