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Article: THE MASTER BUILDER OF PARIS
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 29, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Nowhere else in the Western world could a leader get away with
it. American presidents may have their memorial libraries, Lady
Thatcher her Downing Street railings. But only in France can the
head of state dream of transforming the capital with new buildings,
then go ahead and do it.
It has been going on for centuries, since long before the huge
reorganization and re-development ordered by Napoleon III in the
mid-19th century. Every president has his pet schemes: Georges
Pompidou, remembered for the Pompidou Centre, planned to fill the
centre of Paris with skyscrapers and freeways, but fortunately died
before he could execute the plan. The hubris involved is taken for
granted: the president ...