Is the city still a dream? - PBF03 /
Laurent Kronental
16 November to 20 December 2018
Les Yeux des Tours by Laurent Kronental are both a vantage point and an object to be observed, a documentary, and a work of art.
It is via his project Les Yeux des Tours that Laurent Kronental invites us to look at the world through the portholes of the Tours Aillaud in Nanterre in the Paris suburbs, built between 1973 and 1981. These 18 towers contain over 1600 apartments. Laurent Kronental’s photographic series tell a twofold tale, human and urban genealogy combined. They lead us back to a modernist past in which the new city was spreading its wings with bold forms and the promise of a better life. The huge post-war tower blocks, designed to house a young, dynamic population filled with longings, have taken on a tinge of melancholy over the years. These majestic towers, reminiscent of oceangoing liners, symbols of their age, never slipped their moorings. They have grown old, and the bright hopes of a better life which were built into their fabric have slowly faded to the hues of a nondescript routine. Laurent Kronental has always been fascinated by these buildings. They raise many questions in his mind: Why build them in such shapes? What can you see from right up there? How do the people inside these structures live?
Les Yeux des Tours is an invitation to discover the intimate details of these homes and to find clues to the human presence inside them.
