# City of Beauty



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

OK Case 4 of one of the best planned cities, and justifiably famous for doing so.
The plan is primarily for *health*, grandeur, optimisation of space secondary, and liveability a successful side effect.


*Paris* - architectural harmony, and the densest city in the West SCROOOOOLLLL right (this is only one third the panorama)
*check out the Eiffel Tower for scale!* The only city with this similar look of density is midrise Athens.

Thanx to SuomiPoika for finding this on Amazing European Cities Thread. www.imageshack.us









a central view:
http://membres.lycos.fr









www.survoldefrance.fr


















With a backdrop of showpiece architecture accumulated over the years, Paris was notably saved from being razed by the Nazi General who
chose to disobey Hitler at the end of the war (at risk of execution too).

www.wikimedia.org and www.e-architect.co.uk/paris
















and some of the most enduring images of urban life. This is the City of Light

http://toimoi.unblog.fr and www.artfiles.art.com (Robert Doisneau)
















Paris was founded in 52BC by the Roman town of Lutetia, conquered from the Parisii tribe that had occupied the land from 4200BC.
After the decline of the palatial centre and abandonment by Roman troops, it slowly grew from 500AD onwards to become one of Europe's greatest medieval cities.

http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il and last www.cwrl.utexas.edu
























Paris, already recovering from the 1871 siege of the Franco-Prussian war that severely damaged it's *outskirts*,
had *subsequently* much of its medieval centre obliterated by Baron Haussman's plans for radial streets and grand boulevards, (notably Le Marais district still survives).
*The plan was to sweep away the insanitary conditions of the old city that proved a breeding ground for disease and
create space, light and function:*


www.home.net.fr and www.roland-collection.com
















http://ec-33-saint-bernard.scola.ac-paris.fr 

















Rue de Faubourg St Antoine 1884


















Creating vistas like nowhere else, and a huge sense of space in the boulevards:



www.soulcatcherstudio.com and www.IUP.fr
















www.ibiblio.org










as well as intimate punctuations

Thanx to kony



















These dramatic streetplans retain their impact- note the modern architecture hidden within the streetwalls.
Le Courbusier's design for Paris was to annihilate the centre and rebuild it along vast central avenues
with uniform skyscrapers. *Appalled at the plan Parisians shelved it.*

http://66.230.220.70/images









www.303rdbg.com and www.linternaute.com
















www.survoldefrance.fr









betrand grau




































Imagine, Paris as it might have been with all of the above:

http://aftercorbu.com and http://home.vicnet.net.au

















delineated architectural styles remain, from the medieval sections
to the postmodern.

medieval, Haussmanian
www.parismarais.com www.britannica.com
















postmodern
www.wikimedia.org








http://irgendwo.free.f









Thanx to Minato Ku - *Inner aswell as *outer Paris, and its styles
















































































and contemporary twists


















thanx to Kony










orchestrated juxtapositions:

www.cities.nu and http://farm3.static.flickr.com















www.ibiblio.org









www.fromparis.com










One of the worlds largest underground systems it is the most intricately connected - you are in fact never more than 500m from a metro stop within
the city boundaries (catering to 2.2 out of the 11 million inhabitants), and some of the busiest metro stations in the world.

www.ideamerge.com and www.streetsblog.org
















thanx to Minato Ku



























and not many people know this but the whole streetplan is duplicated underground in a vast sewer network with cathedral sized
chambers. There are 177 miles of tunnels and disused quarries below the streets:

http://magliery.com and http://europeforvisitors.com
















http://city-guide.cc/paris/paris-underground-guide and www.parisdailyphoto.com

art and the infamous catacombs museum

















*a historic centre surrounded by modern suburbs:* 
Paris is a living breathing city with high densities, and much new and daring architecture
alongside the old and great cultural heritage, combined with the chic, the quality and the libertarian.
It is the richest city in Europe.


thanx to MinatoKu www.imageshack.us
















http://irgendwo.free.fr and http://architecture.myninjaplease.com
















Paris is a rapidly changing city, as it always has been. Whilst the cultural greats of food, wine,
fashion and the arts remain dynamic, so does the population, now, along with Spain accepting more
asylum seekers than any other nation.

Christopher de Wolfe at wwwUrbanphoto.net www.diplomatie.gouv.fr www.eatingoutloud.com









Christopher DeWolfe and Laine Tam last one























However the greater social problems of any city tend to be sidelined to the suburbs,
the hugely cosmopolitan and rapidly multi ethnic population ghettoised residentially 
(though not as extreme as the media report), the one city sharply breaking the European
trend toward residential mixing. This doesn't mean they are any different from any other 
city's poorer areas, just that they are grouped together define them apart (crime in the banlieues is still relatively low).

http://parisbanlieue.blog.lemonde.fr and http://blog.lib.umn.edu/arras
















CP Fevrier @ www.flickr.com










Paris life, the streets, the people, the intervention of the civic thinktanks:

www.urbanphoto.net and www.wikimedia.ord
















www.subtraction.com and www.parlerparis.com
















Although under duress, cafe life is still strong

www.spirit-of-paris.com Laine Tam















www.pictureninja.com and www.hrw.org
















...and through it all the disobedience of the Paris Underground,

the current urban tribe du jour are the Tektonics. NYC have the Guidos, Paris these guys:

Avert ur eyes!
www.obiwi.fr and http://i12.servimg.com
















all *life is lived to a backdrop*
the details everywhere you look:

Thanx to JP, his thread here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=591531













































the vistas

thanx to JP, http://irgendwo.free.fr


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

If heaven is like Paris, I want to die right now.


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## Wuppeltje (Jan 23, 2008)

^^

So you would like to die as a British person (reaction on London) if Paris is like heaven.


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

I personally can't say how much I despise Corbusier's lifework. One can only be glad that he could not cause as much damage to our cities as he would have liked to.

http://aftercorbu.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/plan_voison_paris.jpg


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

What a magnificient post Mr Spliff Fairy.

Paris is truly one of the world's great cities. The testament is seen when it is often referred to as the world's most beautiful city. Other cities also claim this title, but unlike Paris it is usually for their natural landscape, the Harbour like in Sydney, the Bay in San Francisco, the Beaches and waterfront in Rio and so on. But Paris is not built in a particularly beautiful geographic location. It's title of world's most beautiful city comes entirely from the city itself; the architecture and man made influence. The urbanity that is unique in cities alone. Even it's most stunning geographic feature, the river Seine, one of the world's most beautiful urban rivers is pretty much entirely man made - it certainly doesn't resemble the shallow river when the city was first settled.

For this reason, Paris truly deserves the title as world's most beautiful "city" for the beauty is in the city itself, not the land nature provided around it. If Sydney, Rio, Vancouver, San Francisco etc were located somewhere else, would they still be considered such beautiful cities? No, but Paris could exist anywhere and still be beautiful.


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## jose_manuel (Oct 17, 2008)

FIDEL CASTRO said:


> If heaven is like Paris, I want to die right now.


 Excuse me, but what if god decides to send you to hell, not to heaven? :lol: It was a joke of course. 

Pictures are great. Paris looks like a dream, as opposed to the reality. My point of view. 

Cheers :cheers:


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Another amazing thread on an incredible city! I absolutely adore Paris, grit, grime and beauty all thrown together. Incredible.


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## oceanmdx (Dec 18, 2004)

I have friends who visited Paris 3 or 4 years ago. They told me that they found Paris to be a rather dirty city, and that they much preferred London and would like to see London again - but not Paris. It is reasonable to describe Paris as "dirty"?


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

oceanmdx said:


> I have friends who visited Paris 3 or 4 years ago. They told me that they found Paris to be a rather dirty city, and that they much preferred London and would like to see London again - but not Paris. It is reasonable to describe Paris as "dirty"?


Not really, no. I thought Paris was certainly just as clean as Auckland for example. 

Excusing the Parisian metro (and especially the RER), London is far more "dirty" than Paris in many ways due to the lack of public litter bins in a lot of areas. London suffers from a pretty bad chewing gum problem on the pavements and litter on the streets.


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

oceanmdx said:


> I have friends who visited Paris 3 or 4 years ago. They told me that they found Paris to be a rather dirty city, and that they much preferred London and would like to see London again - but not Paris. It is reasonable to describe Paris as "dirty"?


I have heard this before and I think it's a perception thing. Paris looks incredibly stunning in photos, well, it is a stunning city afterall. But in photos it's almost possible to forget the fact that Paris is a city of 11million people and one of the densest in the world. 

When people get there for the first time, the image they have in their minds from the photos and postcards conflict with the reality of a busy giant real life city. The endless traffic and noises, the smaller details that photos don't show etc.

There are some area's where I find Parisian's are a tad bit messier. For instance, in front of every pub or restaurant in the UK you will find ashtrays so smokers can put their butts out before returning inside. I have rarely seen this in Paris and if you are in front of a street cafe people often flick their cigarette butts onto the road. This is usually cleaned up but in Paris there are many trees on the footpath and they have metal grills at the base where the butts linger.

That aside, I don't think Paris is any dirtier than any other city of a similar size. I don't notice any more litter on the streets, which are in fact considering the population extremely clean.

I really think it's just a perception thing. People come to Paris expecting this perfect image they see in photos or on film but are taken back by how busy and noisy this real life city is when they first get there. Also, many American's, Australian's etc may not have seen such a large historical city before. Older buildings can be grand but they can also, quite surprisingly to some, look old and some are in need of repair.


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## emagdnim (May 13, 2008)

the spliff fairy said:


> www.obiwi.fr and http://i12.servimg.com


:lol: these f*cking clones are everywhere. Besides that great post, one of my friends recently got back from a Europe trip, enjoyed Paris a lot, he said the atmosphere is very laid back as compared to Canada...


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

No doubt that Paris is one of the most beaufiful cities in the world the fact that it inspired urban planning of other cities say Buenos Aires. 

City of Beauty? For the US, other than Washington D.C, I gotta go with *Boston*


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

Beatiful thread! Beatiful city! I have to say though I much prefer the smaller streets and alleys of Paris to the grand boulevards.


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## Astralis (Jan 28, 2007)

For me the best place in Paris is La Defense. However the whole city is trully beautiful and inspiring.



WANCH said:


> City of Beauty? For the US, other than Washington D.C, I gotta go with *Boston*


Talking about US cities of beauty, I would say San Diego.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

SuomiPoika said:


> Beatiful thread! Beatiful city! I have to say though I much prefer the smaller streets and alleys of Paris to the grand boulevards.


I agree.
One of my favorite street is rue du Faubourg Saint Denis
I could also add in my favorite places Rue Saint Denis, Rue du Temple, Rue du Faubourg du Temple, Rue de provence, Rue Caumartin, Rue de Rivoli (Chatelet part), Rue de la Boetie... 
There is many places that I really like in Paris but curiously few are Haussmannian Grand Boulevards.

Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis








Picture by JP


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Astralis said:


> For me the best place in Paris is La Defense. However the whole city is trully beautiful and inspiring.
> 
> 
> 
> Talking about US cities of beauty, I would say San Diego.


San Diego has a beautiful cityscape but Boston has a richer history and is more pedestrian friendly.


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## obandogutierrez (Dec 2, 2007)

EXCELLENT PICTURES... I'M IN LOVED, AND I'VE NOT BEEN THERE


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