Brutalist Paris: Les Choux de Créteil

 

This magnifiscent brutalist district Les Choux de Créteil is situated in the commune Créteil in the suburbs of Paris.

It is the large complex of cylindrical buildings which includes ten 15-floors high round towers, a ring building of 6 floors, two schools and car boxes.

The complex was designed by Gérard Grandval and was completed in 1974. This project is a kind of architecture-sculpture, the concrete poetry. The shape of the towers, similar to a cauliflower because of the balconies, gives its nickname to this neighborhood. The project was recognized as a "Heritage of the 20th Century" by the French Ministry of Culture in 2008.

Les Choux de Créteil was initiated in 1966 at the place of the market garden which was one of the main vegetable production centers in Paris. The architect Grandval said “he was tired of seeing enormous buildings rise, perfectly aligned, similar to each other and without character: the excuse of the war - was no longer enough to propose this type of architecture.” The project was aimed to create more flexible, more vegetal, more feminine forms. The flower is the anti-cube, said the architect. Petal form balconies break up the image of an anonymous production and distinguish towers from the surrounding buildings. Moreover, the architect wanted to further enrich the strength of the façades, creating a greenery, which however was never made.

All appartments are equipped with a balcony-petal, large concrete shell reaching almost two meters in its high point. This unusual layout allows the inhabitant to have, on the right and left of his balcony, a view of the city and, and in the center, a private oasis.

In 1998, the municipality decided to renovate the district. So, the central cabbage, made up of social housing occupied by families in a precarious situation, is being restructured. Also mix of functions were added – one part of the apartment became student housing. The pedestrian part and the greenery was also renovated to provide a comportable way to reach the near situated university.

Being the Emblem of the architecture of the 1970s, Les Choux has also become an element of popular culture.

The video episode about Les Choux de Créteil is on our Youtube channel.