Title: The social experience of building construction work in and around Paris during the 1960s
Abstract:My thesis explores the social experience of building construction work in and around
Paris during the 1960s. My examination of construction sites shifts the focus of
architectural history away from ...My thesis explores the social experience of building construction work in and around
Paris during the 1960s. My examination of construction sites shifts the focus of
architectural history away from the personality of the architect by considering the wider
public discourses of urban development. Building sites became spaces that expressed
preoccupations about economic growth, labour immigration and the demolition of
working-class districts. Drawing on media archives and rarely examined trade union
material, my research reveals voices of publics usually excluded from narratives of the
production of the city. My thesis contributes to a history of the experience of urban
change.
My first chapter considers building sites from an international perspective, and explores
discourses of French national identity with regards to urban transformation. I analyse
debates about economic productivity, technology and labour immigration. Chapter Two
examines media representation of building sites, and in particular considers how state
television helped contribute to a discourse of Gaullist nationalism. Chapter Three
explores the living conditions of construction workers. I analyse the existence of
bidonvilles on the edge of Paris in the context of modernist architectural and urban
theory. I examine how the popular press made an explicit connection between
immigrant workers and crime, and I chart the attempts to improve living conditions for
construction workers in France. Chapter Four investigates how state urban development
overlooked the social impact of construction projects on existing communities. I analyse
how local residents protested against the construction of suburban housing estates, roads
and airports, and explore how community groups proposed alternative solutions.
Finally, in Chapter Five I analyse how the French media and building workers’ unions
used the phenomenon of construction accidents to push their respective political and
social agendas. Interpreted by different parties for differing reasons, construction
disasters became the centre of debates about the social implications of modernising
Paris.Read More
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-28
Language: en
Type: dissertation
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot