Another look at urban sprawl

  Children play amid a sculpture's shadows.

           Low income housing by Garry Faïf in Noisy-le-Sec, northeast of Paris

Paris's urban sprawl is as depressing  as it is everywhere. Perhaps even more so, because it suggests that France's tradition of beauty has been lost. So when I heard of a tour of little-known works in the desolate suburbs to the east and north, I joined in. Would it show my view too negative? The answer was "yes!" in  that it revealed nuggets of excellence and "no!!!" in providing an almost unimaginable example of officials' obtuseness.

The architect we discovered, Moscow's Garry Faïf (1942-2002), had absorbed the minimalist currents in Russian art*  that  came of age in the 1920's, when revolution, civil war and famine enforced austerity. When he settled in Paris  toward 1970, that background was ideally suited to the utilitarian, low-budget construction that accompanies city growth.

His masterpiece (built in 1998) was a noise-muting barrier on the highway that passes by Romainville, a town east of Paris. The edifice was symbolically and visually powerful -- at minimal cost. 

 Faïf thought of a highway as a river, flowing on endlessly
with towns along its banks. In evoking city ramparts
and a gate or drawbridge, his barrier recalled that continuity.

                                                    Like a town gate,

                 the opening in the barrier led directly onto the main street.

But in 2008 the City decided to cover over the entrance that led from the highway to the town, and to demolish part of the structure in the process. Adjustments would have been inexpensive and informed opinion tried to save the wall: letters came from internationally-known specialists and "The New York Times" and "Le Canard Enchaîné" (an influential weekly) gave their support. The mayor's reply: "We ordered a wall against noise, not a work of art." The bulldozing went through. The vestige that remains makes no sense alone.

The incident shows why urban sprawl is so dismal. The problem is not money -- it is stupidity.

                   The barrier's remaining half, as it looks from the highway now. 

Faïf was a major sculptor and architect

                          Space and color bring vitality with very little cost.

His legacy 

Though acknowledged in Russia as a brilliant architect, Faïf settled in Paris (in 1973) because he could find few openings in Brejnev's decadent USSR. But like many expat artists, he did not benefit from a network of local relationships. As well, his use of space and color may have had less appeal in the 1980's and '90's than they would in our times of retrenchment. He remained obscure.

Yet -- as this tour indicates -- his importance may well be recognized in coming years. And in its truncated state his monument takes on another dimension: by showing that the ugliness of urban sprawl is due to indifference and not to finances, it shows that change is possible.

For Parisians, an organization to discover

"Les Promenades urbaines" (http://www.promenades-urbaines.com), the non-profit association that  organized the tour, explores contemporary architecture in and near Paris. Its excellent guides are specialists. Activities are free or proposed at minimal cost (in this case, 10€ per person to cover transportation by chartered bus).

If you live in Paris, understand French and are interested in the contemporary city, you will find these tours enthralling. 

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* These movements are called "Supremacism" and "Constructivism" (an example of Supremacism is Malevitch's white square, of 1919). When someone asked what these movements were, Simone Faïf -- Garry Faïf's widow -- answered, "You can find them in Google, but the main thing was making use of very little. At least, that is how I lived them." She was referring both to the art and to their way of life.


Photo credits: Wall in 1998 and sculpture / supplied by Simone Faïf. Romainville today / one of the walk's participants.