L'immeuble Molitor is an 8-storey, 15-unit (copropriété) apartment building in the wealthy Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. It was designed by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, and was constructed between 1931 and 1934. Today, it is one of 16 projects designed by Le Corbusier that are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And so if you've at all studied architecture of the 20th century, you know this project. It's canonical. It's also where Le Corbusier and his wife Yvonne Gallis lived for most of their lives until their deaths in 1965 and 1957, respectively. But what they don't teach you in architecture school — and I think it's a shame they don't — is how the project was developed.

The building was developed by la Société Immobilière de Paris Parc des Princes and two promoters (developers) named Marc Kouznetzoff and Guy Noble. They acquired the site right on the border of Paris and Boulogne in 1931 and then asked Le Corbusier and Pierre to design it. But they struggled to obtain the necessary financing and eventually asked the two architects to work their social circles for people who might want to pre-buy apartments in the building. They also wanted to show that avant-garde architecture, of which this firmly was at the time, could be more attractive than traditional architecture.

To that end, here's a marketing poster from that period (which I think is super interesting):

Like the emailers you'd see today, it shows a rendering of the building (with fancy rich-looking people out front), it touts the project's unique location and views, it mentions the architects (by the 1930s, Le Corbusier would have already been an internationally recognized figure), and it promises that the payment structure will be easy. So all in all, not much has changed over the last century when it comes to marketing new apartments: "Move-in today with only 5% down. Don't miss this unique location in the heart of X, with incredible views of Y."

Construction on the project started in February 1932, but it was slow-moving due to financing constraints and a lack of apartment pre-sales. The project was eventually finished in 1934, but then in 1935 the developer went bankrupt. This precipitated a lengthy legal battle in which the ownership of Le Corbusier's own apartment was even called into question. The dispute was not settled until 1949. During this time, the building not surprisingly fell into disrepair, and it would not be until 1950 that a proper renovation would be undertaken. Once again, this is not the story that is typically taught in architecture schools.

Having visited the building this week during Paris Design Week, I can tell you that the common areas feel tired. There's paint peeling in the lobby and the exit stair — which you're required to take to visit Le Corbusier's penthouse apartment — isn't in the best condition. There are tiles missing on the stairs, and the inner courtyard feels a tad grim. At the same time, there are some very nicely appointed apartments in the building that sell/list for over €14,000 per m2. That feels pretty good to me. And so I guess all is well that ends well in the world of architecture and development.

When most people think of Paris, they only think of Paris proper, meaning the 20 neighbourhoods that exist within the confines of the Boulevard Périphérique. But as we talked about yesterday, that is quickly changing as a result of new investments in transit, a more porous border (le Périph), and progressive new developments. Greater Paris is transforming itself into a larger and more cohesive urban region, and it is creating what is, in effect, a new Paris.

Because of this, the preconceived notions that many Parisians hold about the areas outside of the Périph are changing. Old money has long clustered in the western inner suburbs, eschewed the east, and preferred to drive. But today a new generation is colonizing the east and making different mobility choices while they're at it.

Earlier this week, I got a taste of what that looks like. Olivier Raoux and Amaury De Benoist of Alios Développement were kind enough to invite me to tour two of their projects, one of which is on the other side of the Périph and called Les Grandes-Serres de Pantin. So I got up early, pretended I was going to work like everyone else, and jumped on the metro in the 10ème. Within 15 minutes I was at Église de Pantin station. And a few minutes after that, I was crossing the Ourcq Canal.

The first thing I noticed was the people. It was just after 8am and it was busy. Everyone, including young children, seemed to be biking to work or school. I had been expecting to find a neighbourhood that was on its way to becoming something, but instead I found a neighbourhood that had seemingly already arrived, and I was late. It was also further evidence that Paris is now unapologetically a biking city.

Once across, I learned that a new pedestrian bridge is also going to be built leading directly from the metro station to the site, making the short commute from transit even shorter. Here is the mockup:

This pedestrian bridge will connect to a new public plaza at the entrance to the project's anchor building. A former spring factory from the late 19th century, it will soon serve as the focal point for a new mixed-use office park. Its program will include a food market, daily retail services, schools, a large auditorium, DJ events, and the project's first office tenants, among other things. It's a major forward investment, but one that will provide many of the amenities for the larger development — and clearly establish a place in Pantin.

As a quick aside, during our site walk, the gentleman below asked me if I would take his photo. He then asked where the photo would be used (I told him it would be on this world-renowned blog), and he took note of the URL. But unfortunately, I didn't get his name. So if you're reading this monsieur, please get in touch with your details at hello@globizen.com and I'll update this post with a credit to you.

In addition to the main hall, the project's first ground-up office building is also under construction.

The structure is a combination of cast-in-place concrete (which, by the way, was of truly impressive quality) and mass timber floor slabs. By code, the mass timber slabs must be encapsulated, which is also the case in Canada above certain heights. But that has not stopped the top floor of the building from looking like this:

I spent a morning with Olivier and Amaury, and I can say Alios shares many of the same values that guide our work at Globizen. They invest in architecture and design, they focus on quality of place, and they work diligently to build their city in ways that other developers may be overlooking. It was impressive to see. Thank you both, once again, for being so generous with your time and for inviting me to tour your projects.

I'll also add that I left the meeting feeling genuinely excited about the future of Paris. Or should I say, new Paris. Step outside the Périphérique and you’ll find neighbourhoods humming with energy, creativity, and new ideas.

It's easy to romanticize the oldest parts of Europe's built environment. But we all know they were built during a different time. A more fair comparison would be to look at how new neighbourhoods are being planned and constructed today.

So let's exit Vieux-Nice and venture to an entirely new community currently under construction to the north of the airport called Nice Méridia. When complete, the mixed-use community expects to welcome 5,000 residents, 5,000 students, and 5,000 jobs.

I don't know much about the surrounding area, but I do find it noteworthy that the transit infrastructure is already in place. Here's the tram line that runs on the eastern edge of the community, on its own dedicated lanes. Transit is the clear priority here.

The community itself is a mix of different street designs. Here, for example, is a narrow street where traffic is controlled by mechanical bollards. North America really needs to get with the bollard program.

Here's a pedestrian-only street that, at its narrowest, is roughly 12.5 meters. So a fairly generous mid-block space.

Here's what seems to be a fairly typical through street, which clocks in at around 19 meters from building face to building face.

20 meters is not an atypical right-of-way width. It's the dimension of most of the streets in the core of Toronto. But here, most of the space is allocated to sidewalks and green space. The space allocated to cars is roughly 6.5 meters. (I'd like to emphasize that this is a rough dimension as I was using my suitcase to pick up the endpoint of the laser.)

Finally, there's this incredible green space bisecting the entire community. I don't have any dimensions for it, but I can tell you it's a spectacular amenity. With the all-white buildings in the background, it feels a bit like Miami.

Tomorrow I'll share photos of the architecture. Stay tuned.