The Anne Hidalgo-style transformation [1] of the Place de la Concorde is underway! In other words, the continuation of the regular massacre to which this fully listed square is subjected by Paris City Hall (see our articles). The Council of the 8th arrondissement on Monday January 22, and the Paris City Council two weeks later, will have to address this issue in the near future.
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- 1. Historic heritage of Place de la Concorde devalued by traffic... (Septembre 22, 2021)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
You can download here the presentation text of the project and the resolutions that the Paris councillors are to vote on. Anne Hidalgo is asking them, no more and no less, to give her a blank check to carry out her nefarious plans. The description, however brief, already hints at just how disastrous this project will be.
In a nutshell, its motives are as follows:
– the Place de la Concorde is "one of the capital’s worst heat islands": it is therefore necessary to "refresh the square and promote ecological continuity".
– the Place de la Concorde is "entirely devoted to cars": we must therefore "pacify and soothe Paris’s largest square, making it easier to cross and encouraging active mobility";
– the Place de la Concorde is "a vast mineral space": we must therefore "reconnect with the square’s plant heritage, history and emblematic perspectives".
We must also:
– "preserve Concorde’s vocation as a gathering space",
– "offer a new experience and new uses".
It’s easy to see why Paris City Hall wants to do this. To transform the Place de la Concorde, as it already is for part of the year, into a space dedicated to events, thus confusing this historic monument with a fairground and a stadium. This is the clear objective of the five-page document: after the Olympic Games, "lightweight installations on the space freed [from automobile traffic] could thus accommodate, in a fair balance, an alternation of major events, cultural and sporting events". You only need to be out and about right now to get a taste of what’s in store (see article).
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- 2. Historic heritage of Place de la Concorde devalued by traffic... (May 24, 2022)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
This desire, which is incompatible with conservation and respect for the site, is justified by inadmissible arguments. First of all, the invasion by cars. We all know that car traffic is Anne Hidalgo’s pet peeve. But if reducing the number of cars in Paris is a desirable objective, it must be achieved in a reasoned and concerted manner, to enable the city to maintain its position as the country’s economic capital. This is easy enough to achieve at La Concorde, without too many problems: the lanes are so wide that it’s perfectly possible to halve them without preventing traffic from flowing. But certainly not by confining it to half the square, as Paris City Hall imagines. A square like La Concorde, with its central median where the obelisk and fountains are located, is designed to be a roundabout. It’s a complete misunderstanding of urban planning to want to cut it in two, as was done at the Bastille with the results we all know.
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- 3. Historic heritage of Place de la Concorde devalued by traffic... (May 24, 2022)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The argument of the heat island and the 50°C temperatures that Parisian weather could reach in a few decades is no less absurd. We won’t save the planet by "vegetalizing" the Place de la Concorde. The square is mineral, and should remain so. If a heatwave sets in for a few days in summer, all those who fear high temperatures need do is not come to Place de la Concorde during that period (yes, we sometimes have genius ideas...). As the town hall document reminds us: "the Place has changed little in its geometry and minerality" since Hittorf transformed it after 1844, when he filled in the ditches that had previously existed. It is this state of affairs that has been classified as a historic monument. It is wrong to write that "the Gabriel state, which was accompanied by the creation of planted parterres in addition to the ditches, and the "Hittorff 1" state of 1836, constitute a reference state with regard to the furniture and statuary that appeared during this redevelopment (fountains, rostral columns, etc.)". The reference condition is indeed that of Hittorf in the 1840s. The ditches, which included vegetation, disappeared nearly two centuries ago, and cannot be reconstructed due to the occupation of the subsoil, notably by the metro.
It’s easy to see what Anne Hidalgo has in mind: " vegetalize" the site of the old ditches (i.e. the whole square), but on the surface, since it’s now impossible to dig them up. This would be the invention of a state that never existed, a negation of the Hittorf state, but above all a catastrophe when we know how the municipality conducts " vegetalization" projects in Paris.
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- 4. Historic heritage of Place de la Concorde devalued by traffic... (January 10, 2022)
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
When the mayor’s office writes that "the historical heritage of the square is not valued", they really have no shame. For it is they who are devaluing the square’s historic heritage: they don’t maintain it, they leave it in a disastrous state, they disfigure it with barracks and hideous temporary installations (ill. 1 to 4), and they only agreed to restore the fountains and some of the sculptures under pressure from Parisians, and in particular from the petition launched by the indefatigable Baptiste Gianeselli (see this article). What devalues the historical heritage today, and what will devalue it tomorrow, are the permanent occupations of the square for this or that sporting event, this or that fan zone, this or that trade or job fair...
Yes, the Place de la Concorde needs to be restored, but certainly not with a "landscape evolution" that would involve "open spaces and plantings" contrary to its history. It has changed very little since Hittorf last redesigned it. It is this historic state that needs to be restored. However, this does not preclude limiting the amount of vehicular traffic, by reducing it on either side of the obelisk. All that’s needed is a heritage architect and a scientific committee. There’s no need for a "concertation organized for the general public" which, as usual, the mayor’s office will absolutely ignore unless it goes its way. Nor is there any need for a "multidisciplinary project management team". The 36 million euro budget is intended solely for restoring the square.
Of course, as Anne Hidalgo is well aware, the entire project will have to be approved by the Ministry of Culture, given the square’s status as a listed monument. And it’s on a file like this that we’re waiting to see what Rachida Dati will do. Not to oppose the mayor of Paris politically, but to do the job we’d expect a Minister of Culture to do, and which Paris has been deprived of for years. As we all know, the new Minister is also a candidate for the Paris mayoralty. All the more reason, then, for her to take care that the city she aspires to lead is not vandalized.
