Joseph Rykwert

摘要

Recent French presidents expected monuments in their honour. Georges Pompidou did well enough, but Franfois Mitterrand is associated with the anti-urban Bibliotheque Nationale de France (1996) and the insipid L'Opera de la Bastille (1989), while Jacques Chirac's reign is commemorated by the ungainly Musee du quai Branly (2006). Current president Nicolas Sarkozy and his advisors have set about things differently. His Ministry of Culture summoned 10 groups of architect-planners to involve themselves with what they call Le Grand Pari de l'Agglomeration Parisienne or the 'Great Wager of the Paris Agglomeration' - the French for 'wager' being pari. In official translation this means 'Designing the Future' and the rider is that this project will develop the post-Kyoto Protocol metropolis. The 10 teams are not in competition, but are collaborating to produce studies for the Ile-de-France - the region or 'agglomeration'of which Paris is the heart - as well as for the city proper. The teams include geographers, environmentalists, sociologists, and even traffic engineers. One of them, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, is British, while MVRDV is Dutch, Bernardo Secchi and Paola Vigano are Italian, one or two more are international, and the rest are primarily French, including Jean Nouvel.