A view of St. Eustache Church from within La Canopée of the Forum des Halles.
Nuit Debout (Up All Night), the popular assemblies that have been occurring every night since April that encourage participants to share views about politics and the state of the world, has put Paris back in familiar territory, with heightened security at places like the newly renovated Châtelet-Les Halles and the always thriving center of protest and public events, Place de la République.
The constellation of events has filled the city with excitement as well as a very palpable sense of tension and fear. It was only recently that one of the terrorists behind the November, Friday the 13th attacks in Paris, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels, followed by a series of attacks which hit the Brussels airport and metro. The recent spate of attacks and manhunts has only opened up a Pandora’s box of questions concerning security in France and in Belgium.
But that hasn’t dampened the spirit upon which Paris proudly stands. In fact, these very same weeks have been punctuated by a relentless schedule of events and exhibitions, like Paris Art + Design and Fashion Week, which were met with a thrilling sense of pride, bravado and defiance.
One especially notable re-opening took place at Châtelet-Les Halles, which sits in the heart of the 1st Arrondissement. A complex consisting of two metro stations, the transit hub has been undergoing a gargantuan make-over over the past six years. The above ground portion of Les Halles has been replaced with La Canopée, a massive curvilinear building that shields a sprawling complex of shops, arts centers, libraries, a swimming pool and cinemas.
At the unveiling of La Canopée.
The area was officially unveiled amidst a throng of politicians, locals, and celebrities on April 5th, emblazoned against a backdrop of the paparazzi’s flashbulbs. Not to mention the watchful eye of numerous gun-toting Gendarmerie, ever present police and military personnel.
Dominique Hucher, director of SemParisSeine, the firm responsible for managing the colossal redesign project, describes the ambitious undertaking: “The underground and patio space have existed here since the 70s. We’ve updated it and recovered it with a huge glass skylight. And we’ve added even more public spaces that we’ve ultimately connected to the garden and St. Eustache Church.”
The Forum des Halles now boasts an even greater selection of activities for the community to partake in. There is a 2600 square meter conservatory that opens its doors quite regularly for piano recitals and concerts, master classes and lectures. There is also a 1400 square meter hip-hop center. Imagine a place where kids and kids at heart can fully explore their passion for hip-hop: music production, dance, or simply listening and watching live performance. Perhaps the first of its kind to entice locals to delve into their passion for the genre in a state of the art space, the hip-hop center will give many of the Parisian youth a brighter and much more viable outlet through which to express themselves.
A mockup of the fully renovated Châtelet-Les Halles complex.
Other exciting buzz elements to the new impressive structure are a library of about 1050 square meters, more than 1000 square meters of public workshop and studio spaces for amateurs and professionals of all hues, more than 6000 square meters of retail shopping, a cinema, a cinema library and a swimming pool.
Now while “shopping mall” is a dirty word in the French lexicon, Les Halles is an open-space design phenomenon that doesn’t lend itself to convention. What remains with the ambitious design project is the restoration of the green gardens and walking spaces that encircle the Canopée and St. Eustache Church. But already with the opening of the new space, Chatelet has thrust itself head and shoulders over the more popular and typical shopping and tourist attraction, Les Champs Elysées.
In fact, the mayor has called Chatelet, “the new heart of Paris.”
