Little Big Paris

In collaboration with: Kaïs Aiouch, Ornella Angeli, Arnaud Selve

This project’s goal was to create a time-line that did not happen. A sort of parallel universe in which a series of events lead to a completely different world.

In this project we studied the figure of the ruin. The ruin here is disclosed as an object out of its time: a uchronie. We worked during this project in teams of 4.

We chose an unbuilt project on one of two sites (Beaubourg or les Halles) in Paris. We were then asked to re-imagine this building in the way that the architect might have built it at the time. This was phase 1. Phase 2 consisted in imagining a narrative where this building undergoes transformations over a period of time that leads to a parallel timeline.

We imagined that the original project would become an amusement park, using the theme of Paris. In this sense it is a “mise en abime” of itself and a critique of Paris as an amusement park in and of itself. To accompany this project several short stories were written as to plunge into the world that we created. The original project that we picked out of all the unchosen projects for the first Beaubourg competition, was by an architect, self proclaimed “habitologue” by the name of Antti Lovag.

Using the very limited number of documents available to us, we reimagined his project as the biggest mall in the world at that point. In our second phase we imagined political and financial turmoil and change, leading to it becoming a theme park, whose subject was Paris itself. This project was a sort of criticism to the way we deal with our towns as if they were amusement parks.

Its been over 20 years since Walt disney took over the very successful buttes lovag as it was called at the time.
We find ourselves getting ready to commemorate the 40th year of this incredible building’s existence. Its past has been full of excitement and scandal and has left its mark on the very soul of every single Parisian and very likely citizens of the world.
Let us take a step back into the very beginnings of this strange construction.
Back in the 1970’s Paris was at a turning point. It had just gone through may of 1968 and was slowly getting to grips with what this signified for Paris, for France and for the world. 
The 1968 revolt held importance on pretty much every level of organisation. A new approach to modernity was necessary, it was supposed to hold a promise of social equality and pose a challenge to the status quo. Did the aftermath of 68 deliver what it promised? We can safely say today that it did not in any way. If anything the ruling class, and the institutions it governed realized that the youth were a threat to be reckoned with, and that they needed to be pacified in the quickest and most efficient way possible.
The Butte Lovag was one such project. In essence it was idealistic and represented everything that 68 seemed to ask for, it was radical, it was new, it was strange, it was quirky, and held a very flower power appeal. 
Lovag himself seemed to be in complete delusion to what his project would actually become: one of the biggest and most successful malls in the world. the temple of temples dedicated to frenetic consumerism.
The project became notorious through its construction, no-one, not even Lovag, even imagined that he would win. The French government of the time wanted to make a point, It wasn’t reactionary and was well set into going head first into the future. Georges Pompidou was clearly hoping to be remembered as a vanguard of the modern french society. The simple fact that both les halles and the centre Georges Pompidou were built at this point in time are living proof of this. 
But although the president was more than willing to swim in the waters of the modern, and experimental, did this apply to the rest of the French population and Parisian neighbors?
It can very easily be proved that this was not the case. The press were hysteric at the notion that these monstrosities were even being considered as potential constructions.
This was a national scandal and received large international coverage: left and right, radical and middle of the road were for once joined in the indignation they felt towards such a proposal. 
Confidence in the Architects of the time was at an all time low, their know-how and respectability had been completely discredited by the last twenty years of modernity and social housing abominations. No-one trusted their ability to create anything good, and thought of them as egomaniacal fraudulent nut jobs.
This large spread epidermal reaction of the general population seemed to drown out the voice of the youth that wanted what this architecture seemed to deliver.
Whether or not the government took this into account will never be known, the contracts had been drawn up and signed and the contractors were already deeply financially involved. The building would go ahead, the Buttes Lovag would be built whether or not the French were ready for it.
1973. A year into the project and it seems that the buttes Lovag will forever stay a building site. Since the month of May all work had come to a halt. Rumors flying around at the time; had the constructors gone under, had the contract been void, what exactly was happening in the inner circle of the massive operation?
an article from march 1973 in AD seems to give us insight into this fiercely complicated situation.
It states that due to ideological differences in-between the architect and the contractor, they had gone their « separate ways » and the continuation of the project becoming the responsibility of an « in-house architect working for the contractor » . What of the government who were initially the clients of this massive operation? it seems with hindsight that with the construction of the centre Pompidou as well as the imminent turn-over in power ( the election were being held in the next 6 months) that the executive power in matters of the construction of the buttes Lovag were handed over to the contractors. It is possible to find in the archives of Bouygues Immobilier that in the final reunion to discuss the continua
tion of the project neither the French president, or any representative of the French state, or even Antti Lovag were present. The initial project by this point had been hijacked by private corporations, (fact that most probably completely changed the outcome of what it became and what it is today).
Just weeks after this reunion took place, construction picked up again, at an even more frantic pace than when it had first started. It was clear that Bouygues wanted this thing up as quickly as possible so that no one would have time to oppose their decisions.
By the end of-1974 the construction phase was for the most part over. There were a few finishing touches to be given to the building as a whole but it was already gearing up to receive thousands of different commerces.
The public still had problems with this atrocity of a building but they were faced with a material object. it wasn’t an idea anymore, it was built and in such, much harder to refute. Whether or not they liked it, it was there to stay. Resigned the associations and syndicates had no choice but to grow accustomed to it.
The French Government by this point regained interest and were quite surprised at the progress of the Project. It was a new government, of the right wing, pretty conservative in matters of esthetic. 
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing is the new president and he harbors nothing but disdain for this newly finished project.
He had no wish to be the French president associated to this major building site and decided before the opening of the mall, to sell a big chunk of the shares the government has in it. 
Eiffage recuperates these shares as soon as it possibly can. It can feel Bouygues is doing something extremely audacious with this building and wants in before it is too late.
As such in 1974 the building is owned by three organisations and shareholders, the French State, Bouygues Immobilier, and Eiffage. 
The opening of the buttes Lovag aren’t even staged at an international level, it is presided over by president du conseil municipal. Since 1871 there has not been a mayor of Paris, This will soon change.
Valerie G.E realizes with this celebration, that matters concerning Paris must be overseen directly by its own long lasting institution. He blames 
the construction of les buttes Lovag on this lack of organisation at a Parisian scale, and swears that no project in the future will be overlooked in such a way. 
He is quoted in a press conference very off handily saying that « the Buttes Lovag can only fail as every other « grande surface » inside of Paris has ». He had no idea how wrong he would be.
The opening takes place the 3 of February 1975, and although the President himself is not present, it is quite an explosive event. If anything, the bad-publicity it had received over the last couple of years had made it the antagonist of the French modern effort. It was so infamous that it was hugely known throughout the world, from Tokyo to Johannesburg people knew about it and wanted to see the indignation of the French nation. It was a nation-wide soap opera. 
The turnout was immense, the intrigue, and curiosity largely surpassing the disgust. Paris was at the rendez-vous but the President wasn’t. He was busy taking care of the Oil crisis whilst the population of Paris were about to be the very first victims of a new kind of consumerism. The mega-Mall was about to gorge on the un-expectant french population.
A local newspaper from Paris, wrote an article the following day, as pretty much every other newspaper or tv station in France, or even what was to be Europe, describing the amazing scene that had happened the day before.
« We were thousands, maybe tens of thousands standing outside this megalith of which I could not even see the top. We were curious to see what this cavernous absurdity would contain, its proportions are absurd. Who would conceive such a twisted building? was it even a building? But more to the point who would build it? I can only think that the French government have finally lost it and have all gone mad.
The President had even decided not appear before us, instead we were presented the building by a young Politician by the name of Jacques Chirac. He seemed motivated and strangely enthralled by what he was presenting to us. What did he know that we had yet to discover?
Valerie G.E realizes with this celebration, that matters concerning Paris must be overseen directly by its own long lasting institution. He blames the construction of les buttes Lovag on this lack of organisation at a Parisian scale, and swears that no project in the future will be overlooked 
in such a way. 
He is quoted in a press conference very off handily saying that « the Buttes Lovag can only fail as every other « grande surface » inside of Paris has ». He had no idea how wrong he would be.
The opening takes place the 3 of February 1975, and although the President himself is not present, it is quite an explosive event. If anything, the bad-publicity it had received over the last couple of years had made it the antagonist of the French modern effort. It was so infamous that it was hugely known throughout the world, from Tokyo to Johannesburg people knew about it and wanted to see the indignation of the French nation. It was a nation-wide soap opera. 
The turnout was immense, the intrigue, and curiosity largely surpassing the disgust. Paris was at the rendez-vous but the President wasn’t. He was busy taking care of the Oil crisis whilst the population of Paris were about to be the very first victims of a new kind of consumerism. The mega-Mall was about to gorge on the un-expectant french population.
A local newspaper from Paris, wrote an article the following day, as pretty much every other newspaper or tv station in France, or even what was to be Europe, describing the amazing scene that had happened the day before.
« We were thousands, maybe tens of thousands standing outside this megalith of which I could not even see the top. We were curious to see what this cavernous absurdity would contain, its proportions are absurd. Who would conceive such a twisted building? was it even a building? But more to the point who would build it? I can only think that the French government have finally lost it and have all gone mad.
The President had even decided not appear before us, instead we were presented the building by a young Politician by the name of Jacques Chirac. He seemed motivated and strangely enthralled by what he was presenting to us. What did he know that we had yet to discover? The doors finally opened. slowly people started trickling inwards at a slow pace. but all of a sudden it became a tidal wave, people were rushing to get in. 
As I finally entered the building I was lost for words.
Was I still in paris or on another planet? It was magnificent, it is strange and eerie, bright lights with millions of products were presented in front 
of me. the transcending light puts me on a high. I do not understand what happened during the next few hours, but I lost myself completely in this Parallel universe of desire and satisfaction. This is truly the Temple of Consumerism. My own personal Paradise. »
This is a short extract from a rather detailed article by what seems to be a rather overenthusiastic Parisian, would you not say? This is not an isolated case though. The whole of Paris rapidly letting their curiosity get the better of them would adventure into the Buttes Lovag and come out changed.
Very few places have the capacity to change someone, one such place throughout history has been churches and cathedrals, it can be said that temples regardless of the religion transcend ones soul and permits oneself to lose themselves for a fleeting moment.
If I was to analyse what this population felt when they discovered the buttes Lovag I would compare it to what a devotee feels when he is in a place of cult.
How fitting. The French were discovering a whole new dimension to the consumerist society.
Meanwhile things were stirring on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Good old USA was getting ready for its next wave of consumerist 
development.
Walt Disney and Walt Disney Land
On a business trip to Chicago in the late-1940s, Disney drew sketches of his ideas for an amusement park where he envisioned his employees spending time with their children.
In 1954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland, an idea conceived from a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the same time. On the 18th of July 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. After a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world.
As Disney explained one of his earliest plans to Herbert Ryman, who 
created the first aerial drawing of Disneyland presented to the Bank of America during fund raising for the project, he said, 
«Herbie, I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. »
« To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past … and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America … with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. »
In 1966 after many years of fighting against lung cancer Walt died from complications linked to the underlying disease. He left behind quite an important enterprise with undiscovered depths of expansion and growth. 
Under the supervision of his younger brother the Walt Disney Empire kept expanding at an extraordinary rate and in 1967 the year after walt’s death, Walt Disney Enterprises goes Public on the New York Stock exchange. The monster has been unleashed and it will exercice a decisive role in cinema from then onwards and still does today.
Over the next decades Walt disney will rapidly expand into many different businesses. One of which the Amusement park that Walt was very interested in. The amusement Park captures the entirety of the American dream. It is family oriented, it is fun, it is a tale of success. Everyone loves it.
By the 1980’s the Walt Disney Empire is firmly set in the values of the American people, it was, for lack of other description, an institution in itself. It was time for it to export itself to the rest of the world. The dawn of the society of entertainment was slowly coming closer and the rest of the world were clueless to what was preparing itself on this side of the world. 
The success that the buttes Lovag experienced at its opening showed no sign of relenting 2 years into its existence. Many economists and politicians had predicted that it would be short lived, no more than a blip in the existence of paris, a bad fashion soon to disappear. Much 
to their surprise , year in and year out it continued to gain popularity.
1978 was an especially cold year. Paris was grey and cold and wet for almost 6 months. In this disgustingly terrible weather, one place in Paris seemed to be the center of all attention, The Buttes Lovag. No matter the time of day, it was packed. it was the « place to be » in Paris. Why be anywhere else? everything that was needed or wanted could be found in this cavernous mall. wanted a walk? why not take a walk in the mall where it was warm and bright and wonderfully odorous? 
The view of the inhabitants started changing slowly, the once hideous facade, became something they knew, it was part of everyday life in Paris, No one could remember what it was like before it and no one wanted to imagine what there lives would be like without it (god forbid).
The Bling/ Hi tech esthetic it boasted actually caught on, The modern esthetic that the kids from 1968 wanted was now a reality but it had been completely emptied of any symbolic meaning ( social change…etc.) It was hot and cool though and it was selling, a lot. 
The French Government, notably the President Valerie G.E was bitting his fingers by 1979, how had he not seen this coming? The Buttes Lovag was pretty much the physical Manifestation of a new era and he had snuffed it, tried to contain it. There was no going back. He had misunderstood, underestimated the trend. He had however had a good run and put into place some good ideas during his presidency.
It was close to 1980 and Valerie G.E was hoping to get a second run. He had done well but believed that his failure in the affair of the Buttes Lovag, although not so important in the scheme of things, would put him back in the elections in Paris. Without Paris it is close to impossible to try to legitimate a presidency, he had a few loose strings to tie up. 
During the first few months of 1980 the french Government desperately tried to buy back the shares from Eiffage and Bouygues. Endless meetings were held but in the end no deal was struck. The buttes Lovag was just too popular for Eiffage and Bouygues to give up their stake without some serious exchange from the french government, notably in tax breaks. The negotiations fell through.
By the start of 1981 the French government are more than willing to just cut the loss and avoid backlash from another possible government. From the first regional elections the wind seemed to be turning. the left were gaining power.
Behind closed doors the Government brokered a deal with Bouygues 
to sell their stake. Unknowingly to the government, Eiffage was doing the same. By the end of 1981, just in time for the government turnover, Bouygues becomes sole proprietor of the Buttes Lovag.
The same year the numbers have never been higher, the Buttes Lovag is the most Popular Mall in Europe, competing with the most popular American Mega-malls.
The profits are colossal but the organisation proves to be a very difficult task. Bouygues immobilier are a promoting enterprise and are not capable of the sort of management necessary for the Buttes Lovag. The amount of people visiting the buttes Lovag by 1983 are predicted to be higher than 20 million, making it one of the most visited places in Paris, and in the world.
The President since 1981 is Francois Mitterand. He is a socialist and tends to be firmly against what seems to have happened with the Buttes Lovag. He states that he deplores the privatisation of National Assets to private investors. He is convinced that the actions of Margaret Thatcher, the other side of the channel is a travesty that can only weaken the country in the long run, accelerating wealth and social inequality.
This stance of the French President is only accentuated in 1982 when he starts a new wave of nationalisation.
During these few years and until 1987 Bouygues forgoes the risk of being investigated for closed door dealings with the french government in favor of the massive profit from the buttes Lovag. But, in 1987 the correlation of the damaging inflation control put in place by the government, with the augmented difficulty in managing the buttes Lovag, and the ever mounting risk of undergoing an investigation for illegal dealings, pushes Bouygues to opt out. Finally looking for an investor to buy all of their shares in the Buttes Lovag.
During the year of 1988 several contracts are drawn up only to be abandoned, but finally in November a deal is struck with a familiar name: Walt Disney Enterprises
In the 1980’s, Walt Disney was having trouble in its artistic production. Despite its phenomenal library of influential films, their new products were undeniably less popular, leaving Walt Disney struggling to maintain its status as number one in the film industry. 
It was more than ever necessary for Disney to continue their quest for world domination, or disappear.
In April 1979, the first basic contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed. Japanese engineers and architects flocked to California to tour Disneyland and prepared to construct the new operating Tokyo Disney. Just one year later, construction of the park began and was covered by hundreds of media reporters as an indication of the high expectations for the park in the future.
It was immediately a massive hit, and its popularity remained the same for the next 20 years. 
in 1985 the amusement parks owned by Disney accounted for 70% of their profits. In their eyes this was the future of the company and expansion in this direction was only natural for them to continue to strive.
In 1987 Walt Disney Enterprises catches on to the fact that Bouygues are trying to sell off their shares of the Buttes Lovag. It is all very hush hush, but it seemed to be to good to be true.
The Buttes Lovag Through-Out the last 10 years or so had attained a level of notoriety nearly incomparable to other recent structures. it had obtained the status of icon for French Popular culture.
This in itself was a new concept, the Buttes Lovag was clearly a direct replica of American Consumerist Culture. Yet it had been accepted by the French as one of their own. This infiltration in itself is a rare occasion, the troubles of Macdonalds for example to implant themselves on the French territory proves this. 
The terms of the contract are rather strange and the price of the transaction has never been disclosed but the terms are as follow: 
Immediate occupancy, respect of the structure of the buttes Lovag, after a 100 year lease the ownership is to be transferred back to the French Government.
Thanks to this last clause the French Government offers very little resistance to this sale, its self interest being evident.
The papers are drawn up on the 12 of January 1989, and the final sale goes through in June of the same year.
Bouygues still have control over the building until the end of the year, at which point management is to be transferred to walt disney.
Plans are drawn up straight away following the typical DisneyWorld mo
del, but are refused almost immediately by the mairie of Paris, who had no say in the sale and feel side lined.
In the spirit of cooperation a think-tank in-between the Mairie of Paris and Disney is created. Many ideas are thrown around but in the end, only one idea seems to please both parties. 
The Mairie of Paris own the brand Paris ® but are willing to let Walt Disney use it if the theme of the Amusement park is Paris. Little Big Paris is born, Its idea is stemmed in the use of stereotypes and popular culture both french and american to create a unique atmosphere, a new popular culture. 
A cooperation in-between the Mairie of Paris, whose mayor of the time is: Jacques Chirac, and Walt Disney is struck.
Jacques Chirac has always had a heavy interest, fascination , and respect in the buttes Lovag that he inaugurated 14 years before in the stead of Valerie G.E, at an earlier point of his political career.
The construction of Little Big Paris is set to start in November of 1989, it has been embraced by the mairie of Paris, who use this occasion to publicize their new cooperation with walt-disney ( boosting their rating along the way).
With Bouygues out of the spotlight they grab the occasion to eclipse their presence in France for a while, instead looking for real-estate and infrastructure opportunities in China and South East Asia which are developing rapidly.
In early November the first workers that are set to change the beloved Butte Lovag arrive on the site. the plan was simple, there was no separation into different « themes » within Little Big Paris, it is a patchwork , of bits and pieces of what makes Paris what it is. Playing on these stereotypes, and the Imaginary that Paris feeds to the rest of the world, it wants to create the Paris everyone dreams of. 
The project goes off without a hick, but soon a problem is found, The Paris Metro system is in a dire need of repair, yet the Line 4 stops in Buttes Lovag. It is unconceivable for Walt Disney to have such a transport line entering their park, it would taint the dreamlike Paris it was trying to create and bring back any user back to reality.
Once again a new think-tank is created in cooperation with the Mairie of Paris to try to resolve this new found problem. Its could already be felt at this point that Walt-Disney was slowly becoming an active player in 
the development of Paris.
The French Government sees this as an assault by Transatlantic Corporations but they are unable to take any action against Walt-Disney who are not buying into any government owned assets, but rather offering to help fund infrastructure without « any gain ».
Over the course of the next few months it is decided to create a mutually beneficial partnership in-between Disney and Paris in the domain (this time) of transport:
Disney will cover the costs of the restoration of the line 4 metro, in exchange this line symbolically becomes part of Little Big Paris. The idea is that the Metro in itself is a amusement park ride through Paris, it visits many historical and touristic destinations. In this manner the Amusement park seems to overflow from its restrained space, slowly turning Paris into an amusement park, a dreamlike city: The Paris everyone dreams of. Disney is setting an objective, by the time its lease is over it hopes to have transcended the barriers of the buttes Lovag making the whole of Paris an Ideal City, the Everlasting manifestation of the new Popular Culture, this Hybrid in between the American Dream and French « Savoir-Vivre ». 
By November of 1990 the Metro-Line 4 has been completely modernized, The French population uses this new line to its own convenience reveling in the modernity of the American way. Disney’s reputation in Paris is already on the rise, before the park has even opened.
This successful partnership in between the Mairie of Paris and Disney marks the start of a long and very interesting relationship that will change Paris forever.
March 1991, The Buttes Lovag’s reconversion is finally finished, the anticipation is unprecedented scale. the butte has been very largely modified, opening it up in some places, and adding glass instead of the heavy concret shell that it had before. An article by Le Parisian from 1991 describes the interior several days before the general opening: 
« Because Little Big Paris is indoors, the park makes greater use of vertical space. Attractions, shops and restaurants aren’t divided into differently themed lands so much as they are located on different levels. As such, the entrance is located one floor beneath the park’s main area. An 
escalator carries you to the giant,ten-story tall space, which feels larger than the biggest sports arena (and much more vast than the park in the middle of the Mall of America). A glass dome covers most of the ceiling and allows for the park to be lit by natural light. In addition, some of the glass panels can be opened on days with decent weather, allowing a breeze to flow through the indoor park. »
The opening day was a massive hit, Medias from everywhere in the world were present, government representatives from all over the world, important business men…etc. It seemed that the whole of Paris was present, the streets surrounding it were packed, and and many a pessimist doubted that Parisland could possibly welcome such an influx of visitors, miraculously though it did.
Shortly after its opening, in April of 1991, Michael D. Eisner, the head of Walt-Disney is heard during a speech saying as follows:
« To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Once upon a time… a master storyteller, Walt Disney, inspired by Europe’s best loved tales, used his own special gifts to share them with the world. He envisioned a Magic Kingdom where these stories would come to life, and called it Disneyland.
Now his dream returns to the land that inspired it, creating a unique mix of historical and modern popular culture. Parisland is dedicated to the young and the young at heart… with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration for all the world. »
This was the start of a Marvelous affair in between Walt-Disney and Paris that is still a reality today.
Just weeks after the opening of Little Big Paris, plans were laid out for Euro Disneyland in marne la Vallée close to Paris, and Bercy was to be managed by Disney. 
Because Little Big Paris is indoors, the park makes greater use of vertical space. Attractions, shops and restaurants aren’t divided into differently themed lands so much as they are located on different levels. As such, the entrance is located one floor beneath the park’s main area. An escalator carries you to the giant,ten-story tall space, which feels larger than the biggest sports arena (and much more vast than the park in the middle of the Mall of America). A glass dome covers most of the ceiling and allows for the park to be lit by natural light. In addition, some of the glass panels can be opened on days with decent weather, allowing a breeze to flow through the indoor park