PARIS EXPO
Paris Expo |
Paris Expo at Porte the Versaille is the first and biggest exhibitions
and fairs area in Paris, built in 1923. This area attracts every
year more then 200 exhibitions, congresses and events and more then
6 millions of visitors per year from all over the world. The area
covers about 220.000 m2 and presents 8 halls, 32 meeting rooms and
3 amphitheatres. International fairs like Paris’ fashion Prèt
à Porter are here represented.
Between 1996 and 2006, half the facilities will be rebuilt to enable
the centre to host every kind of major event - B2B, scientific,
technical, political and cultural.
Several halls have been demolished then rebuilt to meet organisers'
needs, others have been modernised, some restaurants have been revamped
and a tunnel now links the park's two halves, improving wheelchair
access.
With its outstanding facilities, Porte de Versailles has played
a pivotal role in the economy of Paris and the Ile de France region
since the 70s. Its 220,000 m2 of halls make it Europe's 4th biggest
exhibition complex. |
PONT BIR-HAKEIM
The Seine |
It was in 1878, for the Universal Exposition, that an original metal
footbridge was built on either side of the Ile des Cygnes, and called
the "Passy footbridge". It was much used by the inhabitants
of the 15th and 16th arrondissements. However, to meet the needs
of the Universal Exposition of 900, plans were drawn up to replace
it by a bridge combining a railway and a road. In late 1902 a competition
was organised by the Metropolitan railway and Seine Navigation departments
for a two-tier bridge, with a road bridge on the lower level comprising
two lateral roadways separated by a central walkway and, on the
upper level, the metropolitan railway viaduct supported by metal
columns resting on the central space. The author of the project
was Louis Biette, a Paris municipal architect, was responsible for
the decoration. The Pont de Bir-Hakeim is in fact comprised of two
unequal metal structures, each comprising three cantilever type
spans, separated by a monumental stone structure on the upstream
tip of the Ile des Cygnes.
Called the Passy viaduct until 1948, the work was renamed the Pont
de Bir-Hakeim to commemorate General Koenig's June 1942 victory
over Rommel in the Libyan desert. |
PALAIS DES SPORTS
The cavernous Palais des Sports (Sports Arena) hosts hockey and
basketball games, as well as large-scale musicals and rock concerts.
Not to be confused (especially the night of the show!) with the
Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy, or POPB, whose administration
runs the Palais des Sports, the venue is one of the primary spots
for large-scale culture in Paris. The place can also be changed
into a conference and meeting room. |
PLACE DU 18 JUIN 1940
This square commemorates two important events of the Second World
War. On June 18th 1940 General de Gaulle broadcast his first BBC
radio address from London urging France to resist against the Nazi
occupiers. This was also the place in which General Leclerc, then
the leader of the French forces, accepted the surrender of General
Von Choltitz, the Nazi commander of the Paris occupation, on August
25th 1944. |
GARE MONTPARNASSE
One of oldest stations in Paris (1840), it was completely rebuilt
after WWII. The earlier neo-classical building was hiding behind
it a cast iron roof (Fauconnier) which collapsed a few month after
completion. A new station, by architect Victor Lenoir, was built
between 1848-1852.
On October 22 1895, a terrible accident brought the locomotive
engine and the first coach out the window from the first floor,
where the platforms were situated, into the street. The building
had suffered several major transformations, up through the 1960's,
when the whole area was reorganized and the Montparnasse Tower,
together with the present station, were built. |
PORTE DE SEVRES – HELIPORT DE PARIS
In this Arrondissement is located also the Heliport de Paris. From
the Heliport, you can enjoy an exciting 30 minutes flight over this
marvellous city. You will have a view over Paris and its most prestigious
monuments from the sky (Trocadéro, the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse
Tower, Invalides...). an unforgettable experience! |
PARC ANDRÉ CITROËN
The underlying geometry is modernist, embellished with post-modern
ornament. It is a fine product of a late-twentieth century landscape
design competition. Alain Provost and Gilles Clément explained
their design as having four themes (artifice, architecture, movement
and nature) with an overall transition from urban to rural. The
use of water and clipped plants carry a distant echo of the French
Baroque. A White Garden and a Black Garden are set into the urban
fabric and lead on to the park’s central feature - a vast
rectangular lawn sliced through by a diagonal path. Two glasshouse
pavilions, separated by a pavement of dancing fountains, stand at
the urban end of the lawn. The River Seine flows at the far end.
One flank of the lawn is bounded by a monumental canal and the other
by two sets of small gardens: the six Serial Gardens and a wild
Garden in Movement.
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