Cité Curial-Cambrai

In 1966, the architect André Coquet, in collaboration with the architects D. Auger, Jean-Pierre Cazals, P. Hayoit de Bois-Lucy and Bernard-Jean Massip, delivered the largest Citè of Paris. This set of 16 towers in R+18 and a building in R+8 near the Porte d'Aubervilliers. It houses a total of 1791 dwellings.

Plastic research in the 1950s and 1960s

With an almost square plan, the towers have a sculptural dimension characteristic of the architectural research of the 1950s and 1960s. The facades present a revisited Greek essential design (an ancient ornamental motif): this geometric motif gives a plastic effect that is both sculptural and graphic buildings and gives them a strong identity.

The Famous Egg Study Group

Inside the towers, the fluids are concentrated in the center. This allows great freedom in the design of the volumes of the apartments, from studios to six-room apartments. Great care is taken in the common areas: marble floors, walls covered with sandstone and glass paste. At the entrance to each tower, a forecourt is decorated with a terracotta and enamel motif designed by the famous Egg study group.

The problems often inherent in large cities

Unfortunately, such a concentration of housing will cause significant social problems similar to those encountered in large suburban developments. Originally inhabited by the middle classes, the Curial-Cambrai city became impoverished and made the headlines in the 2000s: it became the setting for violent clashes between drug dealer gangs and made itself known through alarming facts. Faced with this challenge, Paris Habitat (the lessor) and the City of Paris have invested no less than 142 million euros to rehabilitate and pacify the city. Facilities and public spaces have been improved. The 16 towers have been split into several fenced plots. The whole has remained a vast pedestrian island.

Via Lapierre (Eric), Paris Architecture Guide 1900-2008, Paris, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, 2008