Book Review: How Paris became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City About the Author Introduction to Paris and its History Pont Neuf Place Royale Development of Paris from Landscape Perspective City of Revolution: The Fronde Conclusion

1. How Paris Became Paris:
The Invention ofthe Modern City
Book Review of:
Author: Joan DeJean
Published on: 16 July 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Reviewed by: Vijay Meena 2013bpln037 SPA Bhopal

2. About the Author
Joan DeJean, author of seven previous books
on French literature, history, and culture during
the reign of Louis XIV, is Trustee Professor of
French at the University of Pennsylvania,
where she has taught for the past fifteen years.
She has also held positions at both Princeton
and Yale.
Bicultural, she shuttles regularly between her
homes in Philadelphia and Paris, with her
finger on the pulse of both venues.
Writes: History, Crafts
http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Essence-of-Style/Joan-DeJean/9780743264143#sthash.QQhLPF5T.dpuf

3. Introduction
Well before we had anything
resembling a city on our shores,
Paris was defining core aspects of
what we still regard as modern
urban culture.
In “How Paris Became Paris,”
Joan DeJean presents the city’s
role as a precursor of urban
modernity by taking us to the 17th
century, a decisive period of
change for the city.

4. Pont Neuf
1606 - opening of the freshly built Pont Neuf, or
New Bridge.
It was an engineering feat, a broad structure
suited to heavy traffic and therefore able to serve
as the first real artery between the two banks,
with a stop on the Île de la Cité in between.
Bridge built without houses.
Broad space for pedestrians to circulate,
elevated and protected from vehicle traffic by
high stone curbs.
Place for urban civility and exchange.

5. Some Illustrations witnessing development on and near Pont Neuf; making Paris a public friendly city

6. Place Royale
Two major urban
developments of the time,
the Place Royale (today’s
Place des Vosges) and the Île
Saint-Louis,
Each with an ordered layout
and new amenities,
contributed to the formation
of the urban ideal that Paris
was beginning to embody.

7.  Public recreational space,
 Enjoyed by Parisians of all ages and
from across the social spectrum.
The inauguration of the Place Royale in 1612

8. From Landscape Perspective
Louis XIV as the man who gave France Versailles.
In 1690s he came up with a plan that was one of the most revolutionary plans for
any city.
Paris was a walled city.
Louis XIV proclaimed that under his rule, Paris was going to be safe from invasion,
So they didn't need the walls anymore, so he had the walls torn down
Used the rubble and the dirt from that to make a huge boulevard.
“Boulevard" as a walkway and thoroughfare in a modern city.
It was 120 feet wide with two double rows of elm trees lining each side.

9. To guide the redesign of Paris, in 1676 Louis XIV commissioned a new map from architects Bullet and Blondel.

10. Bullet and Blondel used dark solid lines to indicate existing streets and lighter broken lines for streets planned but not yet completed.

11. Delagrives 1728 map depicts the last city square added during Louis XIVs reign, the Place Louis-le-Grand, todays Place Vendme,
equidistant from the then newest section of the boulevard and the Tuileries garden.

12. Delagriveâs 1728 map was the first to indicate the newly laid out and planted Champs- A neighborhood with its walkways
emanating from a central circle

13. The Perelle brothers engraving of the Tuileries shows each area of the newly redesigned garden being used in a different manner:
Big groups gathered on the esplanade; couples strolled in the side walkways.

14. From Landscape Perspective
City was dangerous at night that peoples and merchants were
afraid.
People would dance on the boulevard until three and four in the
morning.
The boulevards also connected to Paris' new gardens,
In the public gardens, men and women would meet with each
other and flirt, men handing women flowers.
According to author: Louis XIV said he wanted to build, "places
dedicated to pleasure,“ and he did it.

15. City of Revolution: The Fronde
“How Paris Became Paris” is not exclusively about built space.
DeJean covers La Fronde,
She presents the new services and amenities, such as public
transportation;
the emergence of a new elite in response to novel financial
mechanisms;
And changes that went along with the cultural & physical
emergence of the new city, such as evolutions in fashion.

16. Frondeur propaganda portrayed the opposition forces as well organized and able to defend themselves against royal soldiers.
This 1648 image shows the barricades they erected to control the Saint-Antoine gate.

17. The almanac for 1661 featured this image of the royal courts triumphant return to Paris at the end of the Fronde.

18. Conclusion
The greatest strength of “How Paris Became Paris” is the Richness of its subject
matter.
DeJean is fluent with the material.
She has conducted thorough research, with many interesting primary sources.
But the book also has weaknesses.
Nevertheless, if one has a strong interest for this fabulous subject and a
willingness to ride through the slow parts, “How Paris Became Paris” is well
worth reading.
DeJean has a crucial lesson for planners:
Great cities do not just happen. They can be made.
They just need to be made by people with good taste.