Parc de la Villete in Paris
Parc de la Villete is located on
the fringes of Paris’ 19th
arrondissement. It forms the border
of the ring road around the city
called the Boulevard Périphérique,
and of the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb.
The park covers fifty-five hectares,
and more than half of the area is
devoted to open, green space. It is
the biggest fully landscaped park in
all of Paris. It is bested only by
the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
French architect Bernard Tschumi
designed Parc de la Villette after
winning the design competition for
the park, and then consulting
deconstructionist philosopher,
Jacques Derrida.
Tschumi built the park in 1982 in
partial fulfillment of an urban
redevelopment project. Pard de la
Villete was built on what used
to be
the national wholesale meat market.
The site was also where the Parisian
abattoirs or slaughterhouses, which
were built in 1867 and relocated in
1974, used to stand.
Parc de la Villette is home to
science and music facilities
including the Cité des Sciences et
de
l'Industrie, and the Omnimax
domed theater called La Géode.
The Cité des Sciences et de
l'Industrie is the largest European
science museum. It specializes in
fostering technical and scientific
culture. The museum was established
under President Giscard d'Estaing’s
initiative of spreading scientific
and technical knowledge to the
people. |
