la philarmonie de jean nouvel is one of the few things i wanted to see last time i was in paris.
i was in paris for 3 short days last year. i had no plan but to keep away from the center and to discover as much as possible of the rest by walking. and i did just that. i set far away destinations from my 13eme arrondissement airbnb and allowed myself loose and elastic routes to reach them. i was lucky to not have so much rain so the the long walks were pleasant and i could think about my stuff without any hindrance. if you want to see my days, click here, here and here.
my research found that the philarmonie cost 390 million euros – 3 times as planned. also, it was completed 2 years late and the opening was snubbed by its architect. read more about the whole drama here, more about the building here and why the architect would no longer associate himself with the philarmonie here.
am i the only one who’s thinking escher now?
the building holds two restaurants, one on the ground floor and another on the sixth, and an exhibition space which, when i was there, had this velvet underground show.
in spite of all the drama, i like the end result, but don’t forget that i’m a mere amateur. if you want to visit it yourselves, find it in the back of the parc de la villette.
i often include contemporary architecture on my to do list when i travel. i hope that this time i made you feel like you saw the building yourselves. i’m also planning to post about the fondation louis vuitton, another example of new architecture in paris. stay tuned.
photo credits: little aesthete
