This is a fine exhibition on the chief architect of Aéroports de Paris, Paul Andreu presented in Paris by the Cité de l'Architecture until 2 June 2024. The retrospective retraces the career and work of this engineer, who became an architect in the exclusive service of Aéroports de Paris. And whosehe first project was the design of a 6-million-passenger terminal at the Paris Nord airport., future Roissy CDG. This was in 1967. Paul Andreu was only 29 at the time.
When you go through the exhibition, you understand the architect's philosophy, which is applied in its entirety in Terminal 1. Every time I think of a project, I don't create a box to organise movement, but I design the walls according to the movement that people will make inside them. "confided Paul Andreu.
A passageway to heaven
Taking the traveller from underground to heaven. A quasi-metaphysical interpretation to describe a passenger moving from darkness to light. Inspired in these concepts by the architecture of Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Saarinen, Paul Andreu will take his passenger skywards. The central body of CDG1 will be this shaft of light with its tubes reaching up to the sky, a domain reserved for aircraft.
Terminal 1 reflects the spirit of the 60s and 70sA time when taking a plane was still an exceptional experience. The honeycomb seats, the transparent tubes with their very "spacey" design, the colour elements and the graphic font on the information panels: everything has been designed to invite you to move from one dimension to another. As for the satellites where the planes are parked, they are like petals around a pistil, in this case the central body of the terminal.
CDG1 is a powerful expression of Paul Andreu's philosophy. The same idea of moving from one state to another can be found in CDG2 terminals. Then later in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Jakarta, Dar-Es-Salaam, Nice and Bordeaux airports.
CDG 1, a unique terminal model
However CDG1 will remain a unique model in the history of airport architecture. . in fact, the terminal will prove complicated in use for users - particularly airlines. Passengers can't find their way around the heart of the terminal, nicknamed the "pie". And it takes a long time to get from one satellite to another... especially if there are connecting flights!
It is also impossible to extend the terminal, as it remains completely closed in on itself. The architect did not take into account the future changes in air transport. From the early 1980s onwards, hubs were appearing, requiring rapid transfers from one aircraft to another.
It was not until the COVID that ADP finally launched a large-scale renovation of the terminal.. The airport authority has built a junction building between satellites 1 and 3. Opened at the end of 2022, it will offer passengers an additional 36,000 m² and, above all, easier connections. This was one of the last projects on which Paul Andreu, who died in 2018, collaborated. CDG1 remains a marvellous monument, reflecting a utopian vision of air transport in the 1970s...
From his side, La Poste issues a stamp, alongside ADP Group, to mark the 50th anniversary of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. It officially goes on sale on 18 March.
The Paul Andreu exhibition can be seen at the City of Architecture until 2 June. Running concurrently from 27 March to 1 July is a display of photos and documents about airportsThese are symbols of modernity in the Cité's gallery of modern and contemporary architecture.
