Castro for President
Wed, 23 Apr 2008
I wrote the following in March 2006. It was first published on the BA Hons Art, Design and Environment website, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. A few changes since it was written: Sarkozy won the French Presidential election and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was abolished and replaced with Communities and Local Government Office.
L’air du temps – It’s our moment. Our time. After more than thirty years of metaphorically banging his Gallic head against the wall of Le Corbu’s concrete cités, now is Roland Castro’s moment. The French architect believes the space (landscape) and not the object (building) should be the focus of an urban approach to architecture. Of equal importance to the space and the architecture is l’aspect politique. These three elements merge to create success or failure. And when a number of Paris cités (multi-storied housing estates) in the banlieues (a euphemism for housing estates as opposed to its original meaning of “suburb”) burned in the riots of October and November 2005, Castro knew the flames were fuelled by apartheid urbain.
Roland Castro is not anti-Corbusier or Corbu’s disciples. “It’s not the buildings’ design that produced misery in the suburbs” he explains, “but it’s misery that found a home there”. And misery in the “mass production houses” is rife. Public housing lines the Paris périphérique that encircles the city. They house immigrants from Africa and elsewhere, many of whom are second and third generation Parisiens. They speak French, they are French, and yet residents of the cités are treated as second-class citizens. The root cause of the riots was neither ideological nor religious. Poverty, lack of job opportunities, racism and an inhospitable urban environment fanned the flames.
In 1983 President François Mitterrand inaugurated a series of housing projects - Banlieue ’89. Castro was the lead architect. The projects were multidisciplinary. They focused on combating social exclusion by improved urban design quality. Although more money was spent on altering public perceptions than on actual physical improvements, Castro made significant changes in designated cités. Townscapes were introduced. Isolated islands of multi-storied apartment blocks were given an urban context. Car parks were no longer the centrepiece. Dead ends were removed. Trees planted. Lighting improved. Shops, community centres, playgrounds and sports facilities were added. The quality and construction of the original apartments were good, but all received a facelift. Estates that had been unwillingly insular and inward looking became communities connected outwards.
What happened in the three public housing estates regenerated by Castro during the 2005 riots? Nothing. No fires. No rioting. Little if any unrest. Caravelle was one. Situated in Villeneuve-la-Garenne (northern edge of Paris), it was built in 1968, and sat uneasily with affluent areas of the banlieue. Surely Caravelle too should have erupted in flames? But unlike other cités, Caravelle reached the end of its 10-year Castro rejuvenation just before the riots. Stairways were removed and three openings created to break the 400-metre wall of apartments. Roads through the gaps connect Caravelle with the rest of the town. Caravelle’s physical transformation meant it had one less major reason to riot. Castro would be the first to admit that problems of exclusion, racism and poverty still exist in the banlieues. But making the urban environment equitable, hospitable, green and engaged with its citizens, is one giant step in the right direction.
Search the web for information on Castro and despite the lessons UK housing authorities and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister could learn from these examples, most information is in French. Search Amazon (com, co.uk. or fr) for “Civilisation urbaine ou barbarie”, Castro’s book in which he details the construction of the cités, and you will find none of the usual reviews or publisher abstracts. Why? There must be bilingual urbanists eager to discuss Castro’s work. Is it irrational fear of an atypical architect seen perhaps as a seditionary? Castro was a prominent leader in the May 1968 Paris student riots. Or is it because the British have always had a uneasy relationship with the French, predicated on fear the French “disease” – revolution – will reach the White Cliffs of Dover?
In December French newspapers reported Roland Castro’s candidacy for the Presidency of France. One of many in a crowded field, his platform is based on propositions for a projet de société to eradicate the désastre tribal. Wish him luck. Now may be Castro’s l’air du temps.
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