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July 15, 2003
paris, maps, rivers and travelators
Last week I was in Paris for a few meetings, and I took the opportunity to go to a few galleries, have a meal, and generally walk around.
It was the first Sunday of the month, which meant that museums were free: the Centre Pompidou was great, but the displays haven't changed that much in the last few years. A few metro stops later (and a good walk around a few stations - the wayfinding and signage at metro stations is unbelivably bad, from long random passageways to many exits at each station), and dinner at l'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and then a quick trip to the Palais de Tokyo (warning: insane website - although it's actually kinda worth the effort).
This is one of my favourite art galleries - it's scruffy, like the ICA a few years ago, but absolutely huge, and open 12-12 6 days a week. The main exhibition at the moment is G.N.S. - Global Navigation System. Where art and maps collide? Fantastic! If anyone's in Paris before 7th September, I urge you to go along.
A slightly more formal version of the Cartographic Congress' map room, items that stood out were Detanico and Lain's Brazilian architectural font (Windows Mac), Olesen's survey of homosexual rights around the world, Mir's Naming Tokyo project, and Jospeh's map of the Paris Metro from memory. Of note is the cheap(ish) exhibition catalogue, which is first class.
I like Paris - I've been there often enough as a kid to use the public transport with ease, and the river running through the centre gives it a similar feel to London. They celebrate the river: gardens and avenues frame the Seine, boats of all desriptions ply up and down, busier than the Thames at any time. I don't think boulevards are the most important feature, although the long roads do frame certain areas of the city.
Other random moments: the Eiffel Tower erupting in strobes at 10 o'clock, hot hot heat on the RER, and the incredibly fun fast travelator. Maybe we should look at science fiction for those ideas that seem outdated - maybe their time has come, maybe they're finally happening? Now I know that we're living in the 21st century. The travelator kept me smiling all day.
(all photos here)
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