An Architect's Paris Author:Thomas Carlson-Reddig Paris is almost as well known for its architecture as for fashion, food, wine and lovers. This is, after all, the city of the Arc de Triumphe and the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre-both old and new- and the Opera, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. — An Architect's Paris reproduces the visual and verbal musings of an architect on the prowl in this great city... more ». Thomas Carlson-Reddig spent two months wandering abuot the City of Light, jotting down his reactions to its architecture and design and making sketches and watercoulers of his favourite sites in order to give us a personal, incisive look at the city. While he is awed-still- by the Eiffel Tower, he finds LaDefense nearby to be an arid, boring, unfortunate venue. A candlelit, music-filled Ste Chapelle is described as though seen in a dream, while the area around the Pompidou Centre, with its street people and grifters, is more like a nightmare. His combined look at Ledoux's Rotonde de la Villette and Tschumi's Parc de la Villette is at once startling and reassuringly fitting.
An Architect's Paris is organized by regions, with a bonus of a daytrip to Chartres. A color-coded map helps the reader comprehend the structure of the city and the author's wanderings within its boundaries.
While the book is designed to withstand the rigours of travel and handling, its evocative, often poetic pictures encourage one to navigate these age-old streets in the comfort of a favourite armchair as well as on foot.« less