Forum des Halles

1st Arrondissement
Paris, France

Contributed by Project for Public Spaces

An underground shopping mall in the heart of Paris, topped by a failed park.

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Why It Doesn't Work

Forum des Halles derives its name from the historic market structures (Les Halles, affectionately remembered as "the stomach of Paris") that were demolished to make way for the nearby Centre Pompidou. It is hard to imagine a space more dissimilar from its namesake.

Forum des Halles is essentially a subterranean mall; it completely disorients you from the real city on the surface. To experience a city is to be aware of one place flowing into another, to encounter a staggering variety of stimuli continually flowing all around you. But traversing Forum des Halles is a deadening experience; every time through we have been gripped by the urge to leave as quickly as possible.

It is covered aboveground by a park that no one ever seems to visit, consisting of a fussy, unconnected set of elements. We encountered the ultimate sign of a failed space at one of the entranceways, where we found some of the most overt drug-dealing we have ever witnessed in Paris.

User Comments:

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09/22/04 Dennis Lieb said:: I visited Paris for the first time last Oct/Nov. Forum des Halles was by far the worst experience of the trip. What they did surrounding Pompidou isn't much better but even the redlight district of adult bookstores that line the alleys near Pompidou are much more inviting public spaces than anything at Forum des Halles (and friendlier). Every route through it seems to be a deadend or mall escalator entry point. It was frustrating just trying to find a way across it despite the fact that its at street level. There was a small area to one side dedicated to older gentleman playing Bocceball but this may have been outside the park proper. Mostly, it was inhabited by punks and lowlife types. I now wonder alot about what was there before that I missed. Anyway, couldn't wait to get out of there and on to the good stuff.
12/03/04 R Dylewski said:: Because so much of Paris "works," it is instantly obvious what a mess the area around the Centre Pompidou is. It is a nightmare that seems to have been carved out of another city and accidently dropped there. I personally bemoan the fact that I never made it to Paris before Les Halles was "improved."
12/14/05 JASON BEL; said:: Hello all
I am a final year product design student at Huddersfield University, I am currently researching for my major project which is centered around public spaces, I was wondering if anyone would like to participate in filling out a questionnaire as part of my research, if you are interested please contact me at my e-mail address (jasonbell4@hotmail.com) and I shall e-mail you a copy of the questionnaire,
Thank you for your time
12/03/06 Benjamin Regnier said:: Please correct an innacuracy in this entry: Les Halles were removed to put in a transit center (the RER station and metro), NOT for Centre Pompedieu. The Pompedieu site was largely a parking-lot by the fifties and little demolition had to be done. Also, the new competition to re-do Les Halles looks like it will be a depressing failure. The retailers in the underground mall seem to have gotten the last say, and the design revolves mostly around "processing" commuters through retail, with the park above a green carpet with little consideration given.