Paris - La Villette

On a 35 hectare/85 acre site in northeastern Paris there has been developed since the mid 80s, under the direction of the architects Bernard Tschumi and Adrian Fainsilber, a new recreation and leisure park- La Villette - with a cultural objective. Two factors influenced the choice of the site: one was that a large abattoir built during the de Gaulle era closed down in 1974; the other was the presence on the site of a 19th century market hall of cast iron construction which it was desired to preserve. After reconstruction work lasting six years the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie - 270m/885ft long and 47m/154ft high, with a glass front and four huge blue-painted steel girders supporting the roof - was opened in March 1986.