| 01/09/07 Contents > All destinations  The Cité internationale universitaire of Paris, a garden of architecture A veritable city within a city, ten minutes away from the Latin Quarter, the Cité universitaire internationale - International Student Halls of Residence - forms a garden of architecture in the open air. | Opening of the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris (15th September) Following the temporary exhibition galleries in March, the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine is opening the entire Musée des Monuments Français to the public during the European Heritage Days. Its designers are quite categoric: no other museum or centre of architecture in the world offers, in one single place, as many possibilities for interaction and for heightening awareness of architecture.
The Heritage Days are an opportunity for the public to explore the Cité in its entirety, and in particular the Musée des Monuments Français (Museum of French Monuments)with its three permanent galleries: the Galerie des Moulages, presenting life-sized fragments of French architectural masterpieces from the 12th to 18th centuries; the Galerie des Peintures Murales et des Vitraux (wall paintings and stained-glass windows), based on the same principle of reproducing outstanding pictorial works from historic monuments; and lastly the new Galerie Moderne et Contemporaine, devoted to architecture from 1850 to the present day.  The Galerie des Moulages, the heart of the Musée des Monuments Français, presents entire and full-sized sections of buildings, from early Romanesque architecture through to the 18th century. The gallery offers an introduction to architecture via the exploration of listed buildings that are part of French heritage. Photo: Lit by a glass roof, the Davioud gallery opens the exhibition chronologically, with examples of Romanesque architecture from Languedoc and Burgundy. © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine/Carole Lenfant, 2007 The Galerie Davioud presents magnificent examples of Gothic statuary, with an abundance of figures borrowed from the Old and New Testaments. Photo: Statuary from Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral with, on the left, the famous Smiling Angel (after 1150). © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine/Nicolas Borel, 2007. The Galerie Carlu is lit from the side by high windows overlooking the Trocadéro gardens. It presents firstly works from Poitou-Saintonge, Auvergne and Provence, then early Gothic works. Photo: From right to left you can see the statuary and great door of Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral (early 13th century); the great door of the old abbey and basilica of Saint-Gilles at Saint-Gilles-du-Gard (after 1150); the great door of the church of Saint-Pierre at Aulnay-de-Saintonge (before 1150); and, in the background, the great door of the Abbaye-aux-Dames, Saintes (12th century). © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine/Carole Lenfant, 2007 The Galerie d'Architecture Moderne et Contemporaine (GAMC), devoted to French architecture as well as to international benchmarks, is an entirely new creation of the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine. Photo: View of the Galerie d'Architecture Moderne et Contemporaine, layout by architect Jean-François Bodin in partnership with Gao Idees i Projectes SL. © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine/Nicolas Borel, 2007. The GAMC develops its theme over 1,200 m2, with the aid of numerous models of iconic buildings. In a piece of technological bravura, the Crystal Palace is a gigantic exhibition palace made of iron and glass, designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of London, in 1851. Photo: Crystal Palace, London, 1851 (destroyed by fire in 1936). Joseph Paxton, architect. Model, metal, wood and Perspex, 2002-2005, scale 1/100, Sylvain Le Stum, designer, Michel Goudin, model maker. © Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine / Hervé Ternisien, 2007. As well as models, the GAMC further develops its theme with screens showing contemporary films, archive material from the French national television archive (INA), and blueprints. Photo: Model of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 1910-1913. Auguste and Gustave Perret, Henry van de Velde, Roger Bouvard, architects; Paul-Émile-Antoine Bourdelle, sculptor; Maurice Denis (1870-1943), painter. Model, wood, paper, 2002, scale 1/30, Joseph Abram, Bruno Reichlin, designers; Alain Duperron, model maker. © Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine / Hervé Ternisien, 2007. The completely restored Galeriedes Peintures Murales et des Vitraux traces the evolution of French wall painting from the 12th to the 16th century. Photo: Biblical scenes, Adam and Eve, David, Manasseh, Nebuchadnezzar and the Fountain of Life, castle chapel, Château de Dissay (Vienne). Late 15th century. Tempera painting, re-mounted using the marouflage technique. Copy by R. Francolin in 1957 © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine / Bérangère Lomont. The scenography of the wall paintings, the work of architect Jean-François Bodin, centres on a stroll through a veritable labyrinth of surprises... such as the superb frescoes from the church of Vieux-Pouzauges, which relate the story of Anne and Joachim according to the Apocrypha. Photo: Story of Anne and Joachim, nave of the church of Vieux-Pouzauges, Vendée (late 12th century, early 13th century). Tempera painting, re-mounted using the marouflage technique. Copy by Marcel Nicaud in 1948. © Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine/Nicolas Borel, 2007. Practical information Palais de Chaillot Access to the Musée de Monuments Français 1, place du Trocadéro et du 11 novembre 75116 Paris Tel: 01 58 51 52 00. Metro: Trocadéro or Iéna A new exhibition, La peau, entre texture et ossature, is being officially opened to coincide with the opening of the Cité. | |
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