This book weaves together the complex issues and themes-physical and political, visible and invisible-that make up the city of Paris.
With an excursion to La Defense, the guide covers the area ringed by the peripherique. Within the ring are projects of many types: landmark monuments-the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre pyramids, the new Bibliotheque de France; renovation of historic quartiers; housing, often the work of young architects; educational facilities; street furniture; parks; and array of underground developments including the modernisation of the sewers and the extension of Les Halles. At the city` s edge are stadia, industrial units and shoping centres caught in the web of motorway feeder roads.
Paris is a collective masterpiece. This guide encourage visitors to understand something of the richness and complexity of a city that is still forming and renewing itself.