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Glittering landmarks by big-name firms have dominated the headlines in the French capital in recent times, with Frank Gehry’s Louis Vuitton Foundation and Jean Nouvel’s Philharmonie de Paris very much in the public eye. However, architectural monuments of a very different kind have been at the center of Laurent Kronental’s life: the photographer has spent the past four years exploring Paris’ vast housing estates constructed during the 1970s and ‘80s, including Ricardo Bofill’s postmodern Les Espaces d’Abraxas at Noisey-le-Grand and Émile Aillaud’s multi-chromatic Cité Pablo Picasso at Nanterre.
Josette, 90 ans, Vision 80, Esplanade de La Défense, 2013; image © Laurent Kronental
Jacques, 82 ans, Le Viaduc et les Arcades du Lac, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, 2015; image © Laurent Kronental
Les Orgues de Flandre, 19e arrondissement Paris, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
The resulting images were collated in a series Kronental entitled “Souvenir d’un Futur” (memory of a future). These surreal, faintly melancholy scenes juxtapose monumental, postmodern and neoclassical environments with the last remaining inhabitants that moved in when the buildings were first constructed — a population of elders seemingly lost amid structures of immense scale and eerie beauty.
Jean, 89 ans, Puteaux-La Défense, 2011; image © Laurent Kronental
Denise, 81 ans, Cité Spinoza, Ivry-sur-Seine, 2015; image © Laurent Kronental
Joseph, 88 ans, Les Espaces d’Abraxas, Noisy-le-Grand, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
Le Pavé Neuf, Noisy-le-Grand, 2015; image © Laurent Kronental
In a recent essay for Dezeen, the photographer reflected on the polarizing nature of the architecture: “These large housing projects are often criticized, they fascinate or bother but leave no one indifferent. Their size reminds me of Colossus. There is an unsettling paradox of life and void. Multifaceted social housing projects; sometimes deserted, sometimes filled with life.”
José, 89 ans, Les Damiers, Courbevoie, 2012; image © Laurent Kronental
Jean-Claude, 82 ans, Les Espaces d’Abraxas, Noisy-le-Grand, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
Les Tours Aillaud, Cité Pablo Picasso, Nanterre, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
The emptiness and muted lighting of each scene creates a wistful atmosphere, capturing the essence of what Kronental describes as an “unsettling paradox of life and void … In this magnificent and ghostly world, the structures of our cities would be titanic and gobble the human — the product of our fears and hopes for the organization of the city.”
Denise, 81 ans, Cité du Parc et cité Maurice-Thorez, Ivry-sur-Seine, 2015; image © Laurent Kronental
Paulette, 83 ans, Les Damiers, Courbevoie, 2015; image © Laurent Kronental
Joseph, 88 ans, Les Espaces d’Abraxas, Noisy-le-Grand, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
Les Espaces d’Abraxas, Noisy-le-Grand, 2014; image © Laurent Kronental
For more memories of the Postmodern, look back at the paintings, photographs and drawings of the fascinating exhibition “Mission: Postmodern” at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, Germany.
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