Mo 21 Sep 09
Tegenlicht: Grand Paris: The President and the Architect
French President Sarkozy has ambitious plans for the Paris of the future and is looking for the right architects. Tegenlicht (the Dutch documentary program "Backlight") has been following one of the candidates, the Dutch architect Winy Maas.
Bregtje van der Haak’s latest documentary, Grand Paris, the President and the Architect—on Dutch Architect Winy Maas’s vision for future of Paris—is part of Urban Century, one of the main programs in the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam.
Grand Paris
Together with nine other teams, including the French star architects Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc, Roland Castro, and the younger Djamel Klouche, Winy Maas and his Rotterdam firm MVRDV were asked to propose ideas for the transformation of Paris and its agglomeration into a sustainable metropolis of the twenty-first century. The motive behind this transformation is the policy of the French president Sarkozy, who—unlike his predecessors—wants more than just a building named after him. He wants to shape the future of the whole Paris region. His vision is a sustainable capital that is attractive for investors, with an improved infrastructure to bridge the gap between the poor suburbs and the wealthy historic center. Sarkozy launched the prestigious project “Grand Paris” in the summer of 2008 with this purpose in mind. He invited ten prominent architects to the Elysée to draw up a plan. The key question is: What should Paris look like in thirty years’ time?
21 September, approx. 8:55 pm, Channel 2
22 September, 3:05 pm, Channel 2 (Repetition)
> More information (in Dutch)
