If not the most conventional of metro stations (far from it), I've yet to hear of someone who doesn't find this incredible platform a marvellous addition to the city.
It probably doesn't upset anything like the Louvre Pyramid or the Buren Columns did. This is doubtless because there are so many anonymous stations to pass through as we go about our days, it's a pleasure to have something interesting, indeed remarkable, to look at for a change.
Constructed almost entirely in copper by a comic book artist, you have the strangest feeling of being lost in the entrails of some enormous and mysterious machine. If you've ever read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne, you might be forgiven for thinking you've been there before.
This 'new style' actually dates back to '94 when 'Arts et Métiers' station was treated to a complete 'relooking' to celebrate 200 years of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, from which it takes its name.
If you are passing through on line 11 it would be well worth getting off to have a nosey around, wonder at the industrial contraptions poking through the ceiling, and peer through the portholes if you wish, but don't be surprised if you see Captain Nemo frowning back at you, warning you not to leave your greasy fingerprints on his polished metalwork!
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog @ paris-and-i.parissetmefree.com )
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Welcome To The Machine
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1 comment:
Haven't been that way for ages. Must go and have a look.
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