Champs-Élysées Under Renovation, Paris

4 October 2017 · Paris

Renovation hoardings turn the Champs-Élysées into a compressed urban corridor — matte black panels on one side, scaffolding and construction mesh on the other, with plane trees marking the centreline above the pedestrian flow. The boulevard is still doing its job: people walking, light breaking through the canopy, the street holding its line toward the Arc de Triomphe. Construction sites make honest subjects. The hoardings narrow the view; the recession opens it back up.