Paris and New York are two cities radically different in design and character, but they are smashed together in this little project from architect Luis Fernandes.
‘Haussmanhattan’ is a portmanteau of Baron Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine whose reconfiguration of the French capital made it the Paris we know today, and Manhattan, the most renowned of New York City’s five boroughs.
Haussmann’s plan of broad boulevards and radial avenues is a far cry from the artless Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 which created the unforgiving city blocks that colonised the entire island of Manhattan ad infinitum.
The contrast only makes the pick-and-mix Fernandes has confected all the more fun/ridiculous/interesting.
Thank God none of this ever occurred!
Un abrazo,
Juan