Joan DeJean

How Paris Became Paris

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At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Paris was known for isolated monuments but had not yet put its brand on urban space. Like other European cities, it was still emerging from its medieval past. But in a mere century Paris would be transformed into the modern and mythic city we know today.Though most people associate the signature characteristics of Paris with the public works of the nineteenth century, Joan DeJean demonstrates that the Parisian model for urban space was in fact invented two centuries earlier, when the first complete design for the French capital was drawn up and implemented. As a result, Paris saw many changes. It became the first city to tear down its fortifications, inviting people in rather than keeping them out. Parisian urban planning showcased new kinds of streets, including the original boulevard, as well as public parks and the earliest sidewalks and bridges without houses. Venues opened for urban entertainment of all kinds, from opera and ballet to a pastime invented in Paris, recreational shopping. Parisians enjoyed the earliest public transportation and street lighting, and Paris became Europe's first great walking city. A century of planned development made Paris both beautiful and exciting. It gave people reasons to be out in public as never before and as nowhere else. And it gave Paris its modern identity as a place that people dreamed of seeing. By 1700, Paris had become the capital that would revolutionize our conception of the city and of urban life.
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472 printed pages
Publication year
2014
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  • Дашаshared an impression9 years ago
    👍Worth reading
    💡Learnt A Lot

    Amazing reading for everyone who is in love with Paris and wants to know more about l'art de vivre Parisien.

Quotes

  • Дашаhas quoted9 years ago
    Love in Paris is totally unlike all other kinds of love,” Honoré de Balzac
  • Ilya Safronovhas quoted3 years ago
    This is little time for such a big city,” Gaspar de Vega admitted, “but I didn’t remark a single notable building, and the only interesting thing about the city is its size.”

    This was the capital Henri IV found in 1598: a city an expert had decreed a virtual architectural wasteland.
  • Ilya Safronovhas quoted3 years ago
    Emma Bovary: “What was this Paris like? What a boundless name! She repeated it in a low voice, for the mere pleasure of it; it rang in her ears like a great cathedral bell; it shone before her eyes.”

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