Paris: Cité de l'Architecture (75016) - by kerouac2

[Deleted]

In olden times, I fell in love with this museum for a quite perverse reason: it is perhaps the most unpopulated major Paris museum that I had ever seen. As wonderful as the Louvre or the Orsay or the Pompidou are, let's face it: they are stuffed full of people, and you absolutely never have them to yourself. There are dozens of small museums in Paris where you can wander almost alone, and many of them are delightful -- the Musée de la Vie Romantique dedicated to George Sand comes to mind, and it is even free. But the big places obviously draw a crowd, like it or not.


Not this place, though. It used to be called the Museum of French Monuments (Musée des Monuments Français), which was a bit confusing. Aren't the monuments already in their various places? What could possibly be in such a place? And then, if you investigated a bit, it didn't really sound much better. The museum merely presents copies of other monuments. WTF?

In spite of this handicap, anybody who accidentally visited the museum was generally surprised and enthralled and yet it remained an unvisited secret. The government, which cannot be accused of ignoring culture, decided that something had to be done, and therefore early in the 21st century, the Museum of National Monuments closed for a few years and was reborn in 2007 as the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine. The change of name was quite clever, because an "architecture museum" sounds new and different while an old museum full of dusty copies of monuments sounds like a bore.

The location is one of the best in the world, but it is strangely ignored by just about everybody. If you go up the Eiffel Tower, one of the main things that you will see is the Palais de Chaillot.



(Oh, gee, there is La Défense in the background!)

Most of the right side of the building is the Cité de l'Architecture.

Why do people not imagine that there might be something worth seeing in there? Oh, I guess they get distracted by this thing, which is what 99% of them have come to see.

(to be continued)

[Deleted]

Well, I paid my 8€ and was happy to be mostly alone.

The plaster copies of the monuments are totally perfect and indistinguishable from the real thing. The majority of them in the "old" section are details of cathedrals and churches all over France.

[photobucket height=480 width=640]http://s450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/CiteArchi/?action=view¤t=0f658d17.pbw[/photobucket]

There are also scale models to show places that no longer exist.

And there are even models of places that were proposed and which never existed, such as this proposition for the Paris opera.

I was never in the presence of more than 3 people at the same time in most of the areas of this museum, and often I was completely alone.

(to be continued)

[onlymark]

The model for the Paris opera appears to have a design flaw.
No wonder it was never built.

[mich64]

Oh, thanks for this. I would have loved to have seen this exhibit. I would have been in there for hours and hours. I probably would have gotten in trouble (or removed) for attempting to touch some of the works. This was really enjoyable and I look forward to seeing the continuation.

[Deleted]

There are displays and explanations about the various types of column ornamentation and the various models of gargoyles.

Some of the major monuments of France are brought down to a size where you can see the details -- for instance, the Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

The spiral staircase inside is reproduced full size.

When you get tired of the ornateness of gothic and renaissance architectural flourishes, there are always fortresses and military châteaux to look at.

But frankly, the whole place is a feast for the eyes.

It is also a great place to take an art class.

(to be continued)

[bjd]

Wow! I never expected such a lovely place. I'll definitely add it to my list of places to go next time I'm in Paris.

[Deleted]

I took one of the lifts up to the next level.

Upstairs, one could admire reproductions of frescoes, murals and other items from really old architectural vestiges, as well as some well preserved ones.

There was a place with a window to get a glimpse of the back side of a decorated dome, and it really helps you to understand how these things can crumble to nothing in an earthquake.

There was also a bit of stained glass, but not much, since that is not the point of this museum.

I was happy to see that the model of the Crac des Chevaliers was still there. Although not exactly a piece of French architecture since it is located in Syria, it was bought by France in 1933, which completely restored it. It was later returned to the Syrian government and finally was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2006.

Lawrence of Arabia saw it for the first time on his 21st birthday and said that it was the most admirable castle in the world.

The thing that looks like a bridge is actually an aqueduct.

I spent a bit of time in the modern architecture section, which was of course "interesting" but not "impressive" compared to the other things I had seen.

               

Oops! It turned out that photography is forbidden in the modern section, probably to protect artist rights of the architects. One of the guards gently informed me of this. Sorry, I'll be more careful next time!

Well, I had just about finished my visit, so I went back down to the ground level. It was hard not to find more things to look at, like this lovely column from Notre Dame de Strasbourg.

The last thing I noticed on my way out was that the museum snack bar (accessible to everyone, even if you do not visit the museum) definitely had one of the finest views in Paris.



(That's all for now.)

[onlymark]

Crac des Chevaliers is a place I've visited several times and it is my favouritest ever bestest castle thingy in the world.
It's stunning.

[Deleted]

There was a large side room in one of the galleries with some excellent etched maps of various cities.

There was also a tribute to the fascinating Shinjuku section of Tokyo, showing the various traditional houses that look more like a charming shanty town than urban planning.

The main attraction of the room, though, is destined for children. There are large cases of wooden blocks for children to design their own street grids, inspired or not by the maps surrounding them. I would have happily gone down on my hands and knees to have some fun, but the signs seemed to imply that I may have been over the designated age group.

[lola]

Definitely must see this place, much more than going up in the Eiffel Tower.

Models are fascinating. The Loches one brings back happy memories of wandering around that hilltop.

I guess the Victorian era was the golden age of plaster casts, like at the V&A Museum in London. The U of MO has a gem of an ancient Greek cast plaster statue room, where I used to sit and sketch.

[Schnauzer]

You have done it again, my kind of place. Well done Kerouac. It is on my list for later this year!!

You still "owe me" a coffee meeting!! This July OK
Schnauzer

[bixaorellana]

I can't believe I never responded to this fascinating, beautifully presented thread ~~ sorry!

To use your phrase, it really is a feast for the eyes, and for the mind, too. Gosh, I would love to see that.

Is the guy lying down in the slide show a plague victim or something? I lost track of how many times I watched the slide show.

Oh yeah ~~ that picture of the tall window with the yellow-leaved tree and that famous tower is pretty damned fine.

[Kimby]

I love how the posture of the students in this one mirrors the subjects in the sculptural grouping in front of them:


Great thread, K2! Can we look forward to private tours of other Parisian small museums that we may have overlooked when we were there?

[Deleted]

The years go by, but this museum still does not fill up, in spite of its location and even in the height of the tourist season.

[htmb]

I agree. It's a wonderful space and I enjoyed my visit there very much.

[tod2]

This is an eye-opener for me too! And another place to add to my ever - growing places to visit in Paris next year.

[lagatta]

I've never been there, though I love architectural models. Somehow I missed this thread, and am thrilled to get an update.

I remember when I could sit on the floor or ground and draw or paint for hours ... and not have any stiffness getting up again. Now I need one of those tacky little folding stools, or some stairs to sit on.

Speaking of sitting, I see that the museum café is called the Café Carlu. Yes, great view.

I'm very interested in social housing (rather far from the magnificence on show in most of the museum); I've been to an interesting museum in Amsterdam about the Amsterdam School. Kerouac once showed early social housing (think it was in eastern Paris) which greatly improved the life and hygiene of the working-class families who could gain access to them. Unfortunately in France we think first of the ill-fated Le Corbusier inspired "barres" that becamse so dismal in many cases.

[tod2]

Kerouac is there any possibility you may find yourself walking past Ecole Militaire any time soon? The reason I ask is maybe you can send us some photos of a new structure going up on the Champ des Mars. I believe its called "Grand Palais Ephemere".

[kerouac2]

Yes, I know that this wooden structure is being built to replace the Grand Palais for 3 years. I has to be ready by 2021 because the Grand Palais will be closing at the end of December and there are a lot of events scheduled.

[kerouac2]

It doesn't look to me as though the ephemeral Grand Palais is on schedule. The signs say it is supposed to open in January 2021.

[tod2]

It looks really complicated with it's curves all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised if the people in charge have already made other plans…..buildings rarely ever, I think never, are completed in time.
Thanks so much for sending some photos.

[lugg]

Oct 12, 2020 6:30:26 GMT kerouac2 said:

It doesn't look to me as though the ephemeral Grand Palais is on schedule

Well its great to see it as it is ; because the photos are fab.