Building Memories (BM) uses personal experiences to explore topics of importance to building.
This BM reflects on the changes in Paris from my student years to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
As I write this Building Memory, the 2024 Summer Olympics are just four days away, and the games are being held in Paris—a city full of countless fond memories for me.
During the summer and fall of 1979, and again in the spring, summer, and fall of 1980, I was fortunate to live in the nearby suburb of Versailles and visited Paris almost weekly. The city’s history isn’t just recorded in books—it’s written in its streets, buildings, parks, and public art.
I spent countless hours soaking in the music, art, and atmosphere around Sacre-Coeur, wandering its streets, and enjoying the city via the metro, which was fast, convenient, and inexpensive. From the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame to the many museums, my favorite was the Musée Rodin. Looking back at photos taken by my 21-year-old self, I was struck that, of all the pictures from my 18 months traveling throughout Europe and the Middle East, at least 20 were of Rodin sculptures—both inside the museum and in its surrounding gardens.
Fast-forward to 2024: the Olympics were exciting and spectacular to watch, but it was equally thrilling to see how Paris had transformed since my youth. Areas that once had strict rules—like the grass around the Eiffel Tower, where we were once shooed off for picnicking on the grass—were now bustling Olympic venues, filled with screaming crowds and sand for beach volleyball.
Portions of the beautiful gardens of Versailles, were now a fully equipped equestrian center with riders competing for gold.
A favorite place to go was the Latin Quarter which was immediately proximate to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Many hours were spent in and around this structure which is still undergoing reconstruction from the devastating fire. A project that must be tremendously interesting for the entire project team of artisans, construction trades, architects and engineers. All using the most modern equipment and processes, while trying to remain faithful to centuries old building traditions. I think my next visit to Paris will come when the project is finished, and I can visit the 21st century version of the cathedral.
Even the Seine River has seen remarkable change, with €1.4 billion invested to make it swimmable during Paris’s increasingly hot summers. Watching what has happened to the Chicago River over the past 3–4 decades gives me hope that urban rivers worldwide can one day be both beautiful swimming destinations and healthy habitats—places where both people and wildlife alike can thrive.
Photo 1 – 1979 – Eiffel Tower Paris France
Photo 2 – 1979 – Sacre Coeur Paris France
Photo 3 – 1980 – Rodin The Kiss – Le Baiser
Photo 4 – 1980 – Rodin The Thinker – Le Penseur