I read the essay in one sitting The disappearance of Paris, by Didier Rykner. I reveled in it, although I found the author spoofing at times and lacking in nuance in some respects.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
This book, let’s say it right away, is a full-throttle charge against the mayor of Paris (that’s what she wants to be called), Anne Hidalgo. The current representative of the Socialist Party in the next presidential election and the author are obviously not to be invited to the same happy hour.
” The disappearance of Parisnew shovel on the head of Anne Hidalgo “, headlined the magazine Marianne at the time of the book’s release, referred to as a “jackhammer”.
“Anne Hidalgo’s campaign seemed to have bottomed out in recent weeks, but the release of a new book could allow her to dig deeper,” the article reads.
My first observation concerns the criticisms formulated by Didier Rykner. It is amazing to see that they are in every respect similar to those we have been hearing about Montreal for a few years. It is about the dirtiness of the streets, the anarchic management of works, the indulgence of elected officials with regard to graffiti, the lack of coherence in the creation of cycle paths, the war on cars, heritage in danger , poorly maintained parks and the ugliness of “ephemeral” terraces built with “wooden pallets”.
I’m telling you, it’s copy-paste. We even talk about potholes that are poorly repaired.
The author believes that the current problem with cities is that their management is too often accompanied by a political ideology. “Managing a city is not managing a state,” he writes. For him, the cleanliness or maintenance of the roads is not “a matter of left or right”.
There is a word that the mayor of Paris uses excessively and which deeply annoys the author: “reinvent”.
In Paris, we “reinvent everything”, as if the city in which we live needed to be turned upside down, as if we had given the mayor a mandate to regulate our entire life.
Didier Rykner
Rykner says he is witnessing a “real erasure” of this city rich in history that millions of tourists come to see for what it was and for what it still is today. “But how long will she remain so after twelve years under the thumb of a chosen one who persists in making her vanish before our eyes by “reinventing” her? asks the author.
Didier Rykner, who is interested in heritage and art history, is the founder and director of La Tribune de l’Art, an online media that offers journalism dedicated to the defense of heritage. He therefore often had the opportunity to write about the “ransacking” that is being suffered in Paris.
Because it was the keyword #SaccageParis that pushed him to finally write this book that had been germinating in him for a few years. This movement, which originated in the spring of 2001 on social networks, brings together citizens who want to denounce the ugliness of Paris and certain choices of the Hidalgo administration.
To date, two million publications have been made. We see photos showing the dirt in Paris, the devastated grass of parks, areas of suspended works, graffiti that the workers of Paris are content to cover with gray paint, etc. The phenomenon has grown to such an extent that we created the #SaccageParis Awards last December.
PHOTO GONZALO FUENTES, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Rubbish littering the ground in Paris, France
The mayor of Paris responded by denouncing a smear campaign on the part of right-wing activists, even the far right. The daily The Parisian however, revealed that the #SaccageParis movement is of such concern to elected officials that a crisis unit has been created.
While displaying his nostalgic love of Paris, the author recognizes that this is not the first time that this city, one of the most beautiful in the world, has undergone transformations. Under Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann completely changed the face of Paris.
“The sacking of Paris has always existed, but it had calmed down a lot and, above all, it had never, for a century and a half, touched the very heart of the capital to such an extent,” writes Rykner.
It is this Haussmannian Paris that the author would like to see frozen and pampered. Instead, we are witnessing the replacement of street furniture (Morris columns, Wallace fountains, newsstands, Davioud benches, Guimard metro entrances) and the installation of dubious concepts.
Didier Rykner evokes the “refreshing stone bench” tested in August 2021. From 25°C, the bench, which looks like a block of concrete, naturally captures and diffuses the cool air coming from the Parisian quarries. Cost of this prototype? €19,000.
It is also about Naturinoirs that men can use to relieve themselves in plain sight. These pissotières make it possible to collect urine to make fertilizer. After its installation, at the beginning of 2021, the prototype quickly overflowed, which made the places infrequent. The solar-powered system stopped working because when installing it, the designers had not anticipated that leaves would appear on the trees and thus block the sun’s rays. Cost of this prototype? 40,000 euros.
Didier Rykner also attacks the proliferation of billboards in Paris. He cites the example of the magnificent Place de l’Opéra now adorned with luminous panels. The same thing can be observed near the Sainte-Élisabeth church, near the Place de la République.
The other aspect that irritates the author is Anne Hidalgo’s obsession with the “vegetation” of Paris. “A revegetation that tries to transform each street into a garden, but which in reality transforms them into vast wastelands strewn with garbage and weeds”, he writes before adding: “Anne Hidalgo and ecology, it’s is a bit of an arsonist firefighter. »
Didier Rykner concludes his book with a series of recommendations which, if filled with good will and common sense, are magical thinking.
However, the questions it raises remain relevant and extremely complex. As I said, they are specific to many large cities.
We are currently witnessing a vast redefinition of urban space and this is accompanied by an appropriation by citizens. This is absolutely desirable. But curiously, this movement goes through a growing disrespect.
Didier Rykner’s book, without being perfect, tells us that the first step we must take to make our cities beautiful and pleasant is to show them our love. What we no longer dare to do.
The real ownership is there.
The disappearance of Paris
Didier Rykner
The Beautiful Letters
Quebec release: March 8