Tag: Paris

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Claudel & Hoetger

It is well known that artists joined other artists and groups to get inspired. The entangled relationship between Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin has become a special example of the tricky relationship between learning and co-creation or inspiration. The role of galerists in building a reputation for artists is less well understood. The “Alte Nationalgalerie“ in Berlin opens up this black box a bit through juxtaposition of Camille Claudel, Bernhard Hoetger as disciples of Auguste Rodin. The influences are rather obvious, yet each disciple developed her/his unique style. The emancipation was not without frictions. The galerist Eugène Blot organized a joint exposition of both disciples in 1905 in Paris, which is partly reproduced in Berlin 2025. Great work by the curators of the exhibition Yvette Deseyve and Sintje Guericke who managed to bring together unique sculptures from 3+ museums and a great explanation of the links between the artists as well as the proximity of ateliers. (Image: view of showroom in Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, Claudel & Hoetger 2025)

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Paris Sorbonne

The history of the university on the left bank of “La Seine” dates back to 1257 when Robert de Sorbon an advisor to Louis IX was asked to create a unifying structure of several colleges which provided room and board already. The location on the left bank in Paris allowed these colleges to escape the religious doctrines and archbishop who dominated the right bank. The choice of the name of the advisor rather than the King was already showing early signs of independence which was cherished by generations of students and professors. The Colleges had individual names like “Collège des Bernardins” or “Collège de Navarre” and operated under the title of “La Sobonne”. The “Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet” shows an early design of the Collège de Navarre. Independent thinkers and writers were formed there who became very influential later on in their careers. Thomas d’Aquin was one of them.

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Paris Olympics history

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will go down in history as the event that has achieved to put Olympic Games and Paralympic Games on an equal footing. At least this is the message the  museum of the history of Paris tries to transmit. In the “Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet” we find a vase from the Games from 1924 in Paris next to the 2 Olympic torches, one for the Paralympics and one for the Olympics 2024. Both torches are the same only a different logo on them, same message, same spirit. The impact of these games is likely to set an example for many years to come and other hosts of the Games will be measured against this benchmark. Making history is one thing, taking care of the posterior image another one. Paris has taken of this as well.

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liberté urbanité

In the museum of the history of Paris “Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet” we find a special place devoted to the commemoration of the terror attacks in Paris in the Bataclan event location and the office of the journal “Charlie Hebdo” (see image below”. The skateboard on the bottom left of the wall raises the value of “urbanité” next to liberté, égalité, fraternité. The attack of an urban living style with youth going out as they like and journalists and caricaturists speaking their minds freely had been attacked, but continues nevertheless. This statement is part of the Paris state of mind. 

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Le Brun Selfie

The great painter and decorateur of the French monarch Louis XIV was Charles Le Brun. He was careful about the way he wanted to be remembered in history. His late 17th century self portrait is exposed in the Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet. Rightfully put in front of elegant red “tapisserie”, the selfie is remarkable for its attention to details. The hair is drawn with high precision and not a single one seems out of place. The painter does not focus on the person in front of him, but rather on some detail next to or behind the depicted Le Brun. The dress chosen is rather an ordinary person’s one or a person devoted to his work and artistic craftsmanship. No hands, no arms, no shoulders. The sole focus is on the head or should we say the brain and facial expression. Realistic painting is probably the closest you can get to today’s selfie-mania. Le Brun’s decoration and paintings in Versailles and churches ate probably some of the most popular backgrounds of selfiies even in the 21st century.

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Home for dog

The places where some dogs live can be rather big. But even tiny dogs may enjoy a luxury home like their owners. This was certainly the case for the dog’s niche in a Paris home, a few years before the French revolution (1785). The exhibit is a testimony of the tough inequality of the late 18th century in Paris, where some enjoyed far reaching luxury and large parts of the population were forced to live in poverty within Paris or the suburbs with little access to basic sanitary facilities. The discrepancy between the luxurious homes of pets and the average person might serve as an indicator for income and health inequality. The Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet has a great stock of artifacts that can speak to the issue. Image: Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet dog niche 1785). 

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Paris History

The “Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet” is the starting point for visitors of Paris and social scientists to better understand the making of this metropolitan city throughout centuries. The only common factor over the years is the astonishing determination to reinvent the city every 100 years whilst the best features of the previous periods are preserved. It is the concern for the very long-term time horizon that makes the city quite unique. Even a social revolution (1789) unlike most other countries managed to preserve most buildings, churches and royal palaces. Restorations are undertaken with a careful approach to shield its architectural and social heritage. Even the radical transformation by Haussmann over almost 20 years until 1870 to build large corridors in the city is subject to revision in modern visions of the future of Paris. The app of the museum is very helpful to learn more details about each chosen object of the permanent exhibition. The social fabric of the city can be studied further through app’s feature when representatives of local social organizations speak about their personal piece within the huge collection on display. The larger the “fundus”, the more the rationale for selecting pieces becomes an issue. (Image: Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet inner court 2025).

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Emotional history

The making of emotional memories of a city is an art in itself. Many cities have professional photographers who accompany all major events in a city over years. Paris has had the chance that artist photographers and film makers have contributed greatly to the emotional history of the city. Agnès Varda was such a formidable person whose images and movies moved people and allowed to share emotions about the city’s busy and diverse neighborhoods. The « Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet » combines an autobiographic perspective with the emotional depiction of live in Paris from the 1950s onwards into the late 20th century. (Image: Agnès Varda, 1950 self-portrait, MEP Paris). 

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Femmes Photographers

Paris puts 2 women photographer into the spotlight. The MEP and the Musée historique de la Ville de Paris feature a gender perspective on photography. Both photographers have a common starting point in black and white photography.  Each moved on to develop their art into an additional direction later during their career. Marie-Laure de Decker shifted from the early camera technology from black and white images to color photography in the later stages of her career. Agnès Varda moved from her initial b/w photographic work on to the production of videos for cinema, mainly focused on life in Paris from the early 1960s onwards. An evolution over the professional life becomes evident for both through these retrospectives of their respective work. Technologies evolved and became more accessible for artists’ creative expression. Both moved on to adopt new techniques and challenges. Great personal learning experiences and models for today’s challenges.

(Image Marie-Laure de Decker, L’image comme engagement 2025-8 MEP Paris).

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Gentileschi Selfie

Today the production of „selfies“ is all around us. Selfies are shot almost instantaneously and several times a day by use of modern smartphones. About 400 years ago the first woman to produce a selfie was Artemisia Gentileschi. As (one of) the first female painter in art history to have created a painted image of herself (which is transmitted today) Artemisia Gentileschi made history. Her unique biography, style and craftsmanship of the early 17th century in Italy made herself a renowned painter. Her choice to depict herself rather than somebody nobel or rich was quite unusual for the time. The audacious choice of herself as her „sujet“ became even her trademark. Later paintings by her with biblical topics were also subject to her reinterpretation based on herself as the female character in the narrative and image. In this respect her work appears so much ahead of her time that her impressive work speaks to all generations today. (Image: extract of Jael and Sisera by Artemisia Gentileschi 1620, Musée Jaquemart André“ in Paris 2025-8)

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Zadkine museum

In the middle of Paris you will find a small former atelier of Zadkine. Transformed into a museum, the place is a cosy place to learn about sculpture and the different materials used. The preparations in form of designs or smaller trials with other materials are common practice to arrive at the sometimes monumental pieces. The visit of the permanent collection is even free of charge. A splendid experience in a surprising spot of silence next to buzzing city streets. Depicting musicians and musical instruments has been Zadkine’s shared passion with Valentine Prax. Great that he managed to reach the USA in time before the Nazi persecution could reach him. However, exile often means hardship as well. 

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Zadkine Van Gogh

Ossip Zadkine has been a sculptor in cubists’ art tradition. He created famous sculptures of Vincent van Gogh after the death of the renowned painter and his friend. The Zadkine museum in Paris allows to get a great impression of these artworks. These sculptures reveal an interesting life course perspective on both artists sensitivity and transformation of their impressions of others or emotions more generally. The first study depicted below by Ossip Zadkine of van Gogh shows how he carefully studied the traits of van Gogh and his personality in order to better understand the evolution and death of the fellow artist. The emotional and broader psychological aspects of a character captured both artists. Doing justice to these inner feelings and society’s judgments about art and artists at their time of creation had strong impacts on both artists. 

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Paris 2024+1

Urban Planning has to deal with the medium and long term time horizon. This is a challenge in a world of short term preferences of financial markets and creditors. The Paris Olympic Games of 2024 demonstrate in an impressive fashion that a balance between these different time horizons can be achieved. The whole of France debates 1 year after the opening of the olympic games what has remained of the investment and the exceptional achievements for the country and its population. The newspaper “Le Figaro” of 2025-7-26 p.12 has published an interview with Tony Estanguet, one of the main organizers concerning the subject. The best of the Paris games 2024 for him was “to see the whole country work together”. The united spirit to make these Paris games a success remains a special experience in an often very divided society. In 2025-7 the “vasque” has survived in “Les Tuilleries” after some debate once the games were over. Therefore, a bit of the Olympic spirit can still be experienced in the center of Paris where the games have become a part of French history. 

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Climate Awareness

The Musée d’Orsay has prepared a wonderful walk through its permanent exhibition of late 19th and early 20th century installations to reflect upon climate and climate change. Raising awareness about the treasures lost and those we are about to lose in the next few years. Impressionist painters have depicted landscapes, cities and monuments covered in snow, which the next generations will no longer be able to enjoy the same way. The roofs of Paris covered with snow has become a feature of a distant past. Additionally, the impression of the massive steam trains crossing metal bridges appear as the daunting future of technical progress. Mixed feelings of fascination and risk associated with those machines were captured by those painters’ eyes. Nowadays we are aware of the consequences of this technical progress for our planet. The walk through museum with a focus on climate related paintings is eye opening indeed. (Image: Extract of Éduard Veuillard, Le jardin des Tuileries, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) 

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Paris Gare

Train stations in metropolitan inner cities are hot spots of traffic and mobility. The number of people passing through these exchanges are impressive. Public transport systems are continuously put to the test of their capacity to handle passengers who want to get from A to B the fastest way possible. In Paris the RER lines, metro and buses to a great job in handling the affluence of passengers. The comparatively small number of passengers arriving and departing nyy taxi, however, still take a disproportionate amount of space. That’s part of the differentiation or inequality of mobility in Paris. Person‘s in need of assistance should have special access to central points of mobility like train stations. Everybody else could rely on shared modes of transportation otherwise the millions of inhabitants will not be able to get around in a comfortable way.

 

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Archi Geometry

Architecture has an obvious and visible link with geometry. Clear lines, rectangular or triangular shapes have dominated for centuries since the Greek temples. Geometry was a discipline that has attracted many scholars and particularly architects. Nowadays the shapes are much more diversified and sometimes complex. The calculation of surfaces, curved lines and shapes have become an issue of more complicated mathematics. Volumes of irregular shapes are a challenge for most people to calculate and heating or cooling sich buildings adds considerable complexity. It is, however, rather relaxing and fascinating to look at the marvels of modern shapes in architecture. Technology and material science have allowed us spectacular progress and designs in recent years. Paris offers a splendid perspective on such developments. 

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Sovereignty of People

In France the judiciary has made an influential decision to ban a politician from the possibility to be elected after conviction of fraud. This is just what is to be expected from the 3rd power in the organization of a democratic state. It is surprising that there was a political debate about a person convicted for a crime to be eligible for public office. Several eminent scholars published columns in major newspapers to support the judicial decision. Pierre Rosanvallon focused both on the justification of the verdict and the constitutional role attributed to the judiciary to operate as a kind of memory of the “general will of the people”, the ultimate sovereign. In the struggle of power within a state the judiciary defends individual rights as well as moderates between the executive and the legislative branch. In the theory of democracy this creates a double bind situation in which the individual has a right to be defended against the state and individuals who ask for judgment of cases one against another one. Eric Halphen has also argued in favor of the often neglected role of the judiciary to stand up for the “general interest”, a notion which is not easy to define without historical references in each country and its historical trajectory of democracy. The short debate about the role of the judiciary has strengthened the defensive capacity of the French democracy. Other, even mature democracies may turn their eyes on the decision of the judges involved not to shun away from unpopular decisions. The independence of the judiciary is part of the sovereignty of the people and non-negotiable part of it.

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Body Soul Membrane

The 40 art works from the Pinault Collection on display at the “Bourse de Commerce Paris” deal with a depiction of the body and soul in the broadest sense. The range of works from paintings, sculptures and video installations is impressive. The link between the body and the feelings or emotions is obvious. Contexts leave deep impressions on bodies and frequently embodiments do not fit emotions. The membrane between the two instances creates an additional barrier or chance to align both instances. Racism and discrimination are recurrent topics in the exhibition. This makes the exhibition a welcome antidote against the increasing risks of violence in many societies. Artists have a subtle emotional connection to suffering of people and their art work does not shun away from confronting us with violence experienced by large groups of society. Body and soul membranes are also an internal or intimate affair, which words can only address with difficulty. Many artists therefore chose other ways than writing or drawing to express or cope with this reflexive relationship of body and emotions. We do not leave the exhibition unmoved, maybe even a bit unsettled in our emotional state of mind. Our own membrane might be moved or become unbalanced after the visit. 

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Wall Membrane

Walls are meant to separate persons. In certain circumstances, however, they work more like a membrane, which allows for example sound to pass walls. We are sometimes surprised to find out that we might hear almost every word that is spoken in a neighboring apartment or home. Listening without seeing is in fact a perfect set up for a comedy to evolve around this theme. Unintentional listening might turn into noisy listening and 2 lives start to intermingle. This is predestined for a comedy to evolve as does the theatre play by Lilou Fogli “mur mure”. The turning tripartite scenario by Jérémie Lippmann makes the 2 rooms arrangement visible where listening and seeing both separated actors a delightful experience. Understanding without seeing is better than seeing without understanding. Misunderstandings are frequent with the focus on appearances of persons. It is somehow the opposite of what our social media platforms suggest with their focus on stylized images and AI-enhanced photo editing. Hearing maybe the better seeing. In that sense the theatre play is in the emancipating tradition of authors like Ibsen or Chekhov, emancipating us from the dominant and overwhelming presence of selfies and self promotion.

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Law and Legality

Some persons consider themselves to stand above the law or push all interpretations of regulations beyond usual understanding of it. Even after a person has been dealing with pharmaceuticals or drugs used also for doping purposes, the conviction of such a person may take several years if not decades. In France, Mr Bernard Sainz seems to be a good example of such a relentless case of practicing para-medical consultations to assist mainly cyclists in endeavors to win championships or professional status. Le Monde  and Cash investigation have raised awareness of the public for such dubious practices. The “French Federation du cyclisme” and medical doctors association fight a continued legal battle against this persons exercising illegally such doping assistance. 

With apparently 56 legal procedures in connection with this person, the legal system has to bear the majority of costs of such illegal practices.

The reach of such dubious practices might be extended if the systems beyond doping, but for assisted euthanasia cannot be controlled effectively. Hence, the precursor cases of positive stimuli like doping pose similar challenges to the legal system as “negative stimuli” weakening persons as assistance to die. The end of a life course is not only a medical issue. Society-wide debates need to take place in order to organize a large consensus on the implications more liberal practices shall entail. 

(Image: Palais de Justice, Paris 2025)

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Great Petit Palais

The Petit Palais in Paris was built together with the Grand Palais for the World Exhibition in 1900. The great architecture of both buildings is complemented by great interiors. The Petit Palais has also been the home of donations to, as well as commissions by, the city of Paris since 1870. This means that a sizable collection of sculptures and paintings has accumulated since then. In spring 2025 the visit of these collections is free of charge and gives honor to the donors and artists exhibited. Over time the collections spread more than 2500 years of art history similar to the exhibition at the BNF gallery Mansard. In the 21st century the exhibition of a piece of art, which stems from the North of Syria reminds us that art is a treasure that can last even if the civilization has been lost or at interrupted for many centuries. This is an important aspect of taking a long term perspective on international politics and history. The breadth of the collection allows a stroll through art history in a splendid setting. Romanticism and impressionism receive a little bit of attention, but the architecture of the Petit Palais invites you to delve into lesser known territory. This, probably is the specific merit of the joint presentation of otherwise necessarily eclectic collections of donors across centuries.

(Image: Anse de chaudron Syrie du Nord 700 years before our time, Petit Palais Paris).

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La défense Végétale

Greening a metal and concrete block and buildings is a big challenge. The logic of unrealistic growth and big business has left liabilities for future generations. More vegetation in inner cities is part of our responsibility towards future generations. Therefore, urban planning has started in Paris to get rid of concrete walls and floors.

Eventually the district might have a more human touch which attracts citizens and new businesses and services. The adaptation of the infrastructure to facilitate mobility with bicycles and secured pedestrian paths has started but will take a lot of time before people adopt again these more healthy modes of transport. The big boulevards reserved for polluting transport is no longer adequate in combination with residential living spaces.

It will take a change of a whole generation to accomplish such a fundamental change. The reduced demand for office space due to more employees choosing to work from home contributes to such a change as well. Many other cities go ahead with similar changes (Copenhagen, Berlin). In combination with the „All electric society“ there are fundamental changes at work which will make inner cities more attractive again. Ease of clean transportation and other infrastructure for urban lifestyles ensures that cities remain strong points of attraction. They keep pulling people from nearby and far away towards them, if we like it or not.

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La Défense reframed

  1. The whole new business area „La Défense“ was a huge investment project with international speculators highly motivated to reap the benefits of a business location just next to Paris, which at best would even feel a little bit like being „intra muros“. However, being at La Défense you see „L’Arc de triomphe“ only quite far away and you don’t really get the impression that you are in Paris. The high rising buildings around there originally gave god reasons for expensive office space. Few residents spaces made the area uncomfortable in the evenings after office hours. After 2025 most office spaces no longer are attractive for businesses and lack behind environmental standards of the 2020s.  Many projects attempt to renovate the former office space into residential buildings with a considerable loss in the value of previous office space. For people working in the multiple shopping centers there this might be a feasible option if the rent is not excessively high. Students in transit through Paris might find this attractive as well. Families, however lack an adequate infrastructure as this area was built for an outdated business center and business model where families were believed to obstruct business efficiency. As the project developers have written off their investments over 25 years society can clean up the remaining space and repair. It will be another medium term project to re-create a convivial environment and community there as before the overriding device was make money there and run to a more human and diverse space.
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Louvre empty

The Louvre in Paris is never empty. The paintings and splendid statues are there 24/24 and 7/7. If you want a quiet moment in front of the sculptures you have to choose a time beyond the normal visiting hours. In fact even a view from outside without queues is a pleasure and gives the impression of a huge empty space with just a few pieces of art. The lights add a nice touch to this special evening atmosphere. It is worth trying to catch a glimpse of the size of the building and the sculptures. Well, we should keep this a secret rather than spread the knowledge about such “Paris moments” in otherwise busy times and crowded places.

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Expo Disco

The combination of music and dance is a powerful, captivating experience. From folk dance traditions across the globe to ceremonial performances. In the past this combination has often related ro religious practices. Later manifestations include classical ballet, modern dance and disco music and dancing. History is full of examples that have been turned into mass culture. 

Rock on festivals and rap in clubs or hip hop outside have complemented this experience over the last few years. Each time the combination made the popular difference. Therefore the Disco exhibition in Paris just next to the Conservatoire de musique et de dance de Paris and in the building of the Paris Philharmonic is an appreciation and respect to the disco culture, popular mostly during the 70s and 80s. From a sociological perspective the throve by minorities for recognition of their cultural practices and diversity has been a driving force. Andrew Diamond has coined the expression of „disco at the intersection of minorities struggles“ (p.70 exhibition catalog). At the origin of the disco movement, there was the aftermath of the 60s power struggles. Black, women, gay and student protests asked for „all power to the people“. Music and dance were forming identities. Posing and showing off became part of disco. People created and lived their own utopia in glamorous lighting.

Image: Exhibition shop Paris Philharmonic 2025.

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ravel up Ravel

To ravel up is a contranym. It can take a specific meaning and the opposite at the same time. Therefore, it is a perfect term to describe the composer, pianist and conductor Maurice Ravel. Born in 1875, he lived through great deceptions as aspiring pianist at the Conservatoire de Paris, but achieved glory through his famous compositions like the “Boléro” created for a ballet performance at the Paris Opera.
Previously, he had written several remarkable piano pieces, which were recently honored by the piano music magazine “Pianostreet”.  In an article with links to 5 performances of Ravel’s piano compositions you can ravel up in the emotional world or cosmos of Ravel. You may also unravel his compositional style marked in some of his most famous pieces with the variations of a single theme or motive. The “Sonatine” completed in 1907 might be considered as a precursor of later work (Boléro) as he refined his composition techniques to build, for example, on a single motive and develop a whole piece reworking and with reappearing incidences of the same motive.
Ravel himself appears as contranym, as he combined modern musical influences, like from jazz or innovative structures of musical compositions with the classical forms of composition. Listening to Maurice Ravel allows to better understand the transition from classical music to modern worlds of music. Thanks to “Pianostreet” we can follow these paths. For a biographical account the splendid movie “Boléro” takes you on an unraveling musical journey of Ravel.
(Image: Repainted piano in Berlin shopping center 2024)

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Endless Questions

The winner of the Niépce prize 2024 has been awarded to Anne-Lise Broyer and features prominently at the BNF in Paris. The exhibition of the professional photographer reflects by way of photographic “still images” on the historic fate of the mediterranean basin. Each and every image has no answers, but keeps posing questions. In the long alley of the BNF in honor of Julien Cain, we walk through history of more than 2 thousand years in photographs up until today and even beyond. Let’s keep asking the most fundamental questions again and again. The exhibition entitled “Est-ce-là que l’on habitait ?” invites us to ask ourselves about the historic origins of so-called Western culture in the mediterranean basin. Ancient philosophy and arts are the foundations even of our current ideas of democracy and freedom.
However, what has become of this in the 21st century? The original statue of freedom has suffered badly. What has become of the freedom of mobility at a time of barbed wire fences rising between countries that influences each other over thousands of years? How about nature? How about religion and freedom of expression? Where is progress? Where is regression?
For centuries we have sought answers in libraries starting from the Library of Alexandria to the treasures of art and knowledge of today across the world. Let’s make more intensive use of these treasures where we shall find answers to most of our questions of the past, to the past and of future interest.

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Hugo intergenerational

Well, this entry is not about Hugo Boss, whose name is probably known to more people worldwide nowadays than the French poet and writer Victor Hugo. The latter Hugo, however, is likely to be known to more generations to come than the former one. In his 19 years of exile with his family he had the unique chance to get to know his grand children a bit closer, which was rather unusual for the late 19th century. The romantic poet was charmed to an extent that he could help it, but to express himself in a longer poem. „L‘art d’être grand-père“ (The art of being grandfather)“. Victor Hugo experienced the death of own children and his wife before and his grandchildren surely gave him reason to believe in a more joyful tomorrow. Comments on this poem mention the idealised vision of the romantic regard on children and even more so on his own grandchildren. « Leur front tourné vers nous nous éclaire… … Ils trébuchent, encore ivre du paradis. » 

We forget all earthly quarrels just listening to the soothing sound like children’s rhymes. Hugo is a master of all literary classes and he ensured that his intergenerational legacy would be part of this.  (Image: Maison Victor Hugo, Paris, writing desk ro stand in front of)

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Shoa Memorial

In the neighborhood of the Paris City Town Hall you find the Mémorial de la Shoa. There is a constant flux of visitors and pupils with their teachers passing through the rooms. They all continue to be really moved by the shocking images and their efforts to try to understand the full extent of the Shoa and the terrible effects it had even on survivors of the concentration camps. The continuation of the memory of the memories of those survivors by young people is one of the strong points of this exhibition. The transmission of memories finds many new ambassadors against the tendency to forget or downplay the horrors committed by the Nazis. 

Of course it is overwhelming as an experience, but it all the more necessary to keep memories alive and guard against each tendency of denial. In the age of fake news and historical deep fakes, it will be all the more important to immunize people against any attempts of manipulation of historic truths. The availability of the information online and through youtube-videos is an indispensable next step in the preservation and dissemination of the documentaries. The Mémorial of the Shoa in Paris is an essential part of this commemoration as 76.000 Jewish persons were deported to concentration camps from France as well.(Image: Mémorial de la Shoa, Paris 2025)

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Corridorisation Connectivity

In some cities, “I love Paris” (Jazz Song), we admire the “breath-taking” large corridors, right in the centre of the city. This has been the outcome of the urban planning in the 18th century. Haussmann designed large parts of Paris with huge corridors despite the medieval narrow streets in some of the arrondisements”. Ease of traffic, fewer riots and representative housing became the new mantra of urban planning and superb boulevards.
In the 21st century it is about time to question the notion and social process of corridorisation. This has been accomplished in a paper by Fatima Tassadq et al. (2025). Modern infrastructure like fibre-optic cables, energy or water networks are easiest to deploy in urban spaces with large corridors than the complex narrow inner cities with supposition of different kinds of network layers. The grand ideas of the 18th century should be questioned from time to time and some districts that have escaped the corridorisation might well have a particular charm about them, maybe just because they seem to escape the rational approach of making and structuring space by means of large corridors. Large corridors separate city districts and they are a major driving force of gentrification.
The rationality of corridors has some roots in maths or physics of complexity. A recent paper by Shanshan Wang et al. (2024) reports the surprising finding that the transport corridors in several cities across the globe allow for a 1.3 times the distance of transport networks compared to the so-called direct linear “bird’s flight line”. Hence, corridorisation is (has been) a rather pervasively applied model of urban planning.
Alternative approaches advocate in favor of the 15-minutes walking distance city. All amenities like shops, schools, maybe work and services should be reachable within a 15 minutes walk. This does include “walking corridors” that facilitate (social) connectivity in inner cities. Cyclists also claim their corridors or fast lanes across cities, which underlines the pertinence to take corridorisation seriously and apply the concept with care.
In any case, social connectivity is key. The big social media platforms operate similar to the traffic infrastructure in the 21st century and provide huge corridors to knowledge and people. We only realize this once a service (for example tiktok) or the internet altogether gets disconnected. We have moved from (social) categorisation to (social) corridorisation as technology and rationalisation have taken the upper hand to structure our (social) lives.