Pont des Arts

The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the Seine River. It links the Institut de France and the central square (cour carrée) of the palais du Louvre, (which had been termed the "Palais des Arts" under the First Empire).

Between 1802 and 1804, a nine-arch metallic bridge for pedestrians was constructed at the location of the present day Pont des Arts: this was the first metal bridge in Paris. This innovation was due to Napoléon I, following a design of English manufacture. The engineers Louis-Alexandre de Cessart and Jacques Dillon initially conceived of a bridge which would resemble a suspended garden, with trees, banks of flowers, and benches.

In 1976, the Inspector of Bridges and Causeways (Ponts et Chaussées) reported several deficiencies on the bridge. More specifically, he noted the damage that had been caused by two aerial bombardments sustained during World War I and World War II and the harm done from the multiple collisions caused by boats. The bridge would be closed to circulation in 1977 and, in 1979, suffered a 60 meter collapse after a barge rammed into it.

The present bridge was built between 1981 and 1984 "identically" according to the plans of Louis Arretche, who had decided to reduce the number of arches from nine to seven, allowing the look of the old bridge to be preserved while realigning the new structure with the Pont Neuf. On 27 June 1984, the newly reconstructed bridge was inaugurated by Jacques Chirac – then the mayor of Paris.

The bridge has sometimes served as a place for art exhibitions, and is today a studio en plein air for painters, artists and photographers who are drawn to its unique point of view. The Pont des Arts is also frequently a spot for picnics during the summer.

The argentinian writer, Julio Cortázar, talks about this bridge in his book "Rayuela". When Horacio Oliveira goes with the pythia and this tells him that the bridge for La Maga is the "Ponts des Arts". This is a great allusion of Cortázar for one of his greatest novels, even one of the best novels ever written.

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August Theme Day: Bright Colours

Night Motion
Piazza del Popolo. Rome
(People's Square)

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Monochrome

Rhinocerus by Henri Alfred Jacquemart 1878 (Musée d'Orsay)

Everything has been figured out, except how to live.

Jean-Paul Sartre

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Parisian Walkways

Street  Performers

Avenue de l'Opéra

Place Saint Michel

Place du Pont Neuf

 

Rivière by Aristide Maillol  1943

Jardin des Tuileries

Jardin des Tuileries, Concorde

In the West. Place du Carrousel Jardin des Tuileries stretches over a length of 920 m and a width of 325 m to the Place de la Concorde, between rue de Rivoli and the Quai des Tuileries. Its area is 25.5 hectares.

The eastern and Carrousel gardens, between the two galleries of the Louvre, was founded in 1889 on the site of the former garden of Le Notre, buried under the rubble of the Tuileries Palace. We are created in 1964-1965 a "outdoor museum" containing 19 * bronze statues of the sculptor Aristide Maillol Roussillon (18611944) in N. Lawn, Action chained, River, Night, the Mediterranean, Homage to Cezanne, Venus, Pomona, the dregs of France, draped Bather; in S. Lawn, nymphs, the Monument in Port-Vendres, Air, Summer, Flora, the Bather with arms raised , Pain, Mountain (donation Dina Viemy).

The old part of the Tuileries, between the Avenue du General Lemonnier and the Concorde, is surrounded by gates.
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The Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou, Le Forum (2040m2) 

Entrance

L'Adieu by Henri Laurens (Terrasse)

Woman sculpture on Terrasse

 

Composition With Two Parrots by Fernand Leger 1935-39.

Guerrilla Girls

Identité by Piotr Kowalski

Background

The Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou was the brainchild of President Georges Pompidou who wanted to create an original cultural institution in the heart of Paris completely focused on modern and contemporary creation, where the visual arts would rub shoulders with theatre, music, cinema, literature and the spoken word. Housed in the centre of Paris in a building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, whose architecture symbolises the spirit of the 20th century, the Centre Pompidou first opened its doors to the public in 1977. After renovation work from 1997 to December 1999, it opened to the public again on 1 January 2000, with expanded museum space and enhanced reception areas. Since then it has once again become one of the most visited attractions in France. Some 6 million people pass through the Centre Pompidou's doors each year, a total of over 190 million visitors in its 30 years of existence.

The Building

Under the rules of the competition, the architectural project had to meet the criteria of interdisciplinarity, freedom of movement and flow, and an open approach to exhibition areas. The competition was won by two young architects: the Italian Renzo Piano and British designer Richard Rogers who proposed a constraint-free architecture in the spirit of the 1960s. The supporting structure and movement and flow systems, such as the escalators, were relegated to the outside of the building, thereby freeing up interior space for museum and activity areas. Colour-coded ducts are attached to the building's west façade, as a kind of wrapping for the structure: blue for air, green for fluids, yellow for electricity cables and red for movement and flow. The transparency of the west main façade allows people to see what is going on inside the centre from the piazza, a vast esplanade that the architects conceived of as an area of continuity, linking the city and the centre. The centre quickly fell victim to the unexpected scale of its success. With some seven million visitors per year, the building aged prematurely and had to close in October 1997 for 27 months. During this time 70,000 m² were renovated and 8,000 m² added, mainly to display collections. This was possible by relocating the offices outside the centre. When it reopened on 1 January 2000, the centre was an immediate, overwhelming public success again, testifying to the public's inseparable attachment to the site and its spirit. [Centre Pompidou]

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