Paris détruit

Everyone knows the central market of Baltard. Less people will raise their hands regarding the Palais-Rose of Boni de Castellane, or the prison of la Petite Roquette or the hotel Hesselin? What about the presbytery of Saint-Séverin? And the courtyard of the Dragon? The author, a fine connoisseur of Paris, traces an illustrated report of various centuries of urban destruction (which Alfred Fierro, at the same publishing house, had dealt with in a different manner with his Dictionnaire du Paris disparu). In doing so accuses alignment and the habit of keeping the façade of buildings while destroying all that is behind, and analyses the role of conservation associations, such as the Commission du Vieux Paris. The elegant silver background he chose for his pages shines too much and makes the reading more difficult but the photographic testimonies remain remarkable, in particular the ones linked to the Haussmann period and the destructions by the Commune.

• Paris détruit, du vandalisme architectural aux grandes opérations d’urbanisme, by Pierre Pinon, Parigramme, 2011, 320 p., 49 €.