The long awaited centre, named "Canopée" by its architectss Patrick Berger and Jacques Anziutti, is nearing completion in Les Halles, on the site of the historic Parisian market demolished in the '70s.
Les Halles food market – referred to as "the belly of Paris" by novelist Émile Zola – dates back as far as the 12th century. The famous glass and iron buildings were designed by architect Victor Baltard in the 1850s, but demolished during the 1970s, leaving a hole for several years until the Forum shopping centre was built over the Châtelet – Les Halles station in 1979.
The new Forum des Halles will welcome over 37 million visitors per year in an expanded area that includes 66,000 square meters of commercial space, as well as some 800,000 travelers who will pass through the largest center for intercity transport in Europe every day. It will be crowned by a giant glass roof spanning an area of about 25,000 square meters.
"The dynamic elements of the site guided the idea of the Canopy", explained the architects. "Its curvilinear and organic forms are the result of observations and analyses of the natural and human- made forces that act on an urban environment."
"Under the vast shelter of the Canopy, some 18,000 glass shells diffuse a soft light whatever the weather forecast, so that the interior temperatures are maintained without undue energy consumption", they added.
It has been designed seeking the visual transparency, so that visitors can easily be oriented and to give them the feeling of overall space. It is organized in two wings which allow pedestrians to have a clear view of the activity spaces. Each of these wings houses 14,000 square meters of cultural facilities. In the south a music conservatory is located and in the north a multimedia center, a cultural center and a "home for amateurs of dance music and theater practitioners."
The re-location of the main entrance to a large public garden offers a new perspective on the surrounding area and creates a natural axis between the Pompidou Center and the Stock Exchange. These gardens are designed as a meadow dotted with flower beds and plants.
"The gardens are framed on either side by wooded areas and equipped with playgrounds, benches, petanque courts, chess tables and much more", said the team. "It will be more inviting, open and accessible to the public and will have more greenery than before."
The pedestrian circulations are now channeled through this new door to Paris that seeks to symbolize the urban reality of the site.
