Protect Claude Parent’s Ris-Orangis architecture, Yonne

After having Claude Parent’s shopping center in Sens (in Yonne, France) classified as a historical monument, it would be only natural for his Paris-region supermarket, Ris-Orangis, to be bestowed the same honor. Ris-Orangis presents a perfect mastery of brutalist volumes, a remarkable sense of circulation and an incredible passageway – a nod to the bunkers which were so important for the Architecture Principe duo, of which Paul Virilio was the second partner. It’s also remarkable to note that, in the beginning of the ’70s, a valuable and avant-garde architect was able to create shopping centers, whereas today’s landscape seems covered by shoe boxes encircling a rotary. It is time to give the due attention to Claude Parent, time to save our patrimony. Ris-Orangis! Quick! Let’s make sure that Claude Parent’s shopping center is classified as a historical monument! Text and photo David Liaudet

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