- Oct 2016
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atlspaceplacerhetf16.robinwharton.net atlspaceplacerhetf16.robinwharton.netUnit2WB.pdf10
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The narrow streets surrounding the Opera and the hazards to which pedestrians were exposed on emerging from this theater, which is always besieged by carriages, gave a group of speculators in 1821 the idea of using some of the structures separating the new theater from the boulevard. / This enterprise, a source of riches for its originators, was at the same time of great benefit to the public.
The streets of Paris in the 1870s are a bit reminiscent of Atlanta, though not for exactly the same reasons. Parts of Atlanta, like Paris at this time, are not very accommodating to pedestrians because of the introduction of vehicles. The arcades introduced a safer and easier way for pedestrians to reach the opera while also benefiting businesses, and I can't help but think that this could be a possible solution for Atlanta's lack of pedestrian access/desirability.
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“The arcades are sad, gloomy, and always intersecting in a manner disagreeable to the eye. . . . They seem . . . destined to house lithographers’ studios and binders’ shops, as the adjoining street is destined for the manufacture of straw hats; pedestrians generally avoid them.”
This description of the arcades is drastically different from those we came across before. Throughout the article, the arcades have been described as teeming with business, commerce, life, and diversity, with a multitude of shops, consumers, and flaneurs. In stark contrast, this description characterizes the closed-in alleyways as "sad" and "gloomy." I can only assume that lithographers' studios and binders' shops are equally as gloomy and dull, since, according to the author of this particular quote, are doomed to populate the arcades. What, I wonder, happened to the useful, lively arcades Benjamin described in the beginning of the excerpt?
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Trade and traffic are the two components of the street. Now, in the arcades thesecond of these has effectively died out: the traffic there is rudimentary. Thearcade is a street of lascivious commerce only; it is wholly adapted to arousingdesires. Because in this street the juices slow to a standstill, the commodityproliferates along the margins and enters into fantastic combinations, like thetissue in tumors.—The flaneur sabotages the traffic. Moreover, he is no buyer. Heis merchandise.
According to Benjamin, there are two components of the streets, but the arcades are notably lacking in one, which differentiates them. While there is abundant trade, the flaneurs managed to "sabatoge traffic" by their nature. Their purpose is not to simply get from place to place--they have purpose. They simply observe, and that's what make them merchandise--they add character to the arcades and are, as the Citylab article describes, amazed with their findings.
Bliss, Laura. "Pokémon Go Has Created a New Kind of Flâneur." CityLab. The Atlantic Magazine, 12 July 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
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Passage Vero-Dodat.
This map shows the location of a number of the remaining arcades in relation to each other.
(http://www.lahistoriaconmapas.com/atlas/city-map/covered-passages-paris-map.htm)
Arcades Map. Digital image. The Telltale Blog, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016. http://telltaleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/secret-passages-of-paris-map.jpg.
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The Passages of Paris and Benjamin's Mind by Herbert Muschamp details the rich history surrounding Benjamin's "Arcades Project" and the influence it had on the city of Paris. Though left incomplete on Benjamin's death in 1940, "The Arcades Project" nevertheless remains one of the most important urban analyses of the time. Benjamin was born to a Jewish art dealer in Berlin. He was educated there, but the Paris Arcade Project began in 1927 as a newspaper article. The manuscript was recovered by essayist George Batailles and was later taken to the Bibliotheque National in Paris. In the many sections of his analysis, Benjamin included both his own reflections and a vast amount of research material, which includes passages from other historical and architectural sources. Benjamin considered this type of building the most important during his time period because they signaled the end of an age production and the beginning of an era of consumption.
The article describes the arcade as a building type that predated Haussmann's grand boulevards. Essentially, the arcades were pedestrian passages between buildings--alleyways with iron and glass roofs over top of them. They were typically lined with shops and small restaurants, or tea rooms. The other even goes so far to describe the arcades as "the embryo of the suburban mall." Surprisingly, the arcades had been left behind, for the most part, when Benjamin was in Paris, Haussmann Boulevards having ripped through Paris to make room for new urban fantasies. Benjamin, however, was still a bit stuck on the old ones. He remains fixed on the "phantasmagoria" that exists in the arcades, and his criticism aims to bring awareness to his readers and "release them from the hold of manufactured states of mind," which are oftne proliferated by the architects of this age.
Muschamp, Herbert. "The Passages of Paris And of Benjamin's Mind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2000. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
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Passage du Caire. Erected after Napoleon’s return from Egypt. Contains some evocations of Egypt in the reliefs—sphinx-like heads over the entrance, among other things.
(http://parisadele.com/portfolio/passage-du-caire/)Passage du Caire. Digital image. Paris Adele, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016. http://parisadele.com/wp-content/uploads/strikingr/images/2920_Passage-du-Caire-facade-644x428.jpg.
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During sudden rainshowers, the arcades are a place of refuge for theunprepared, to whom they offer a secure, if restricted, promenade—one fromwhich the merchants also benefit.”
Throughout our texts and even my own research and observations, two of most common influences on the built environment I've noticed are necessity and commerce. Like it says later on in the article, the arcades were constructed in order to prevent opera-goers from getting wet in the rain.Then, rather organically, shops began to populate the areas. According to the New York Times article, "at one time, more than 300 arcades punctuated the Paris cityscape." It's fairly clear that the success of the arcades meant that more and more appeared throughout the city of Paris.
Muschamp, Herbert. "The Passages of Paris And of Benjamin's Mind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2000. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
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The physiognomy of the arcade emerges with Baudelaire in a sentence at the beginning of “Le Joueur genereux”: “It seemed to me odd that I could have passed this enchanting haunt so often without suspecting that here was the entrance.”
The "physiognomy" or outward appearance of the arcades, as described by Beaudelaire, is unsuspecting and easily overlooked, much like the hidden places described in the NPR article about Atlas Obscura. Like the Time Square Hum, the arcades, a marvel of architecture and Parisian culture, blend in seamlessly with the environment. It serves as a reminder that, in the middle of the busy streets, "is this kind of little gem waiting for you if you're willing to sort of slow down, look around, listen and kind of start asking questions" as Thuras says in the article. This is much like the flaneurs that Beaudelaire himself described.
Shapiro, Ari. "'Atlas Obscura' Tour Of Manhattan Finds Hidden Wonders In A Well-Trodden Place." NPR. NPR, 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
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Shops in the Passage des Panoramas: Restaurant Veron, reading room, musie^J \) shop, Marquis, wine merchants, hosier, haberdashers, tailors, bootmakers, ho-) siers, bookshops, caricaturist, Theatre des Varietes. Compared with this, the Pas-' sage Vivienne was the “solid” arcade. There, ,one found no luxury shops
(http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/100264/Passage-des-Panoramas)
From the image and description of the Passage de Panoramas, it is clear that these arcades were, in "the embryo of suburban shopping malls," offering a wide variety attractions, and even restaurants.
Passage de Panorama. Digital image. Paris Tourist Office, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016. http://en.parisinfo.com/var/otcp/sites/images/media/1.-photos/80.-photos-sugar/lieux-de-loisirs-et-de-culture/passage-des-panoramas-%7C-630x405-%7C-%C2%A9-otcp-marc-bertrand/10653601-1-fre-FR/Passage-des-Panoramas-%7C-630x405-%7C-%C2%A9-OTCP-Marc-Bertrand.jpg.
Muschamp, Herbert. "The Passages of Paris And of Benjamin's Mind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2000. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
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nd those who cannot pay for . . . a shelter? They sleep wherever they find aplace, in passages, arcades, in corners where the police and the owners leave them undisturbed.”
This is a good example of the use of public for the benefit of all, and it is the exact opposite of the the Yale Law Journal article we read. Instead of discriminating against a certain class of people by altering the physical environment, shop owners and even law enforcers allow their presence and gladly share the space. This exemplifies the diversity of the city and the overall accessibility of the arcades.
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