Paris: Contemporary Architecture

At the turn of the millennium, Paris, once the "capital of 19th Century Europe" has resumed its position as one of the leading architectural centres of the world. Over the past few decades, the ambitious plans of successive French Presidents have resulted in a Paris studded with distinctive, boldly-designed, high quality contemporary architecture. This study focuses on buildings erected in the past ten years including projects which are still under construction. These are not just the internationally acclaimed architectural masterpieces such as Le Grand Louvre, the Parc de la Villette or the Bibliotheque de France, but also major context-related planning schemes such as the Bercy or the Andre Citroen parks. Projects designed to meet the everyday requirements of city-dwellers, such as government housing schemes and community developments have also been selected for inclusion. The study is both a critical analysis of older and more recent developments in the Parisian cityscape in relation to their historical background, and it reveals the panorama of present-day architectural projects.