The Halles in Paris: from industrial heritage to a non-lieu? A reflection on the role of contemporary architecture in historic urban environments

The construction of the Halles Centrales in Paris dates back to the mid-19th century and represents the culmination of an adventurous and controversial history. Born to be the ‘Louvre of the People’, by Victor Baltard it became a masterpiece of lightness and transparency. This gigantic ‘belly of metal’ was destroyed in 1972 to create an underground shopping centre. In 2010, even this unattractive structure, already unsuitable to its role, was demolished to make way for a new reorganization. Today, les Halles is undergoing major urban renewal to make the district more welcoming and interconnected, open to the city and better integrated into the environment. Concerning one of the most controversial sites of the town, this project has sparked a new argument on the appropriateness of contemporary architectural insertions into historic urban areas: a very relevant topic to which this paper intends to contribute.