We’ll Always Have Paris

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Paris Syndrome: a photo series by Francois Prost featuring Tianducheng – a 12 square mile housing development on the outskirts of Hangzhou in China inspired by (if not an unashamed rip-off of) Paris (on the left, except for the last pic [Thanks Thomas P]).

31 square kiometers of faux Belle Époque and nearly neoclassical architecture complete with a third-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the gardens of Versailles.

MORE: Side-by-side photos of Paris and its Chinese knockoff (Wired)

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14 thoughts on “We’ll Always Have Paris”

  1. Thomas P

    The last picture is inverted. Paris is on the right, featuring the (empty) bassins du Trocadero, and the Tour Montparnasse can be seen between the legs or the Iron lady.

  2. Mr Indica

    I guess they could replicate Georgian Dublin in its grandeur before it was destroyed by crooked developers, bad planning and vandalism…. It might even be liveable!

    2. Hallström

      Much of 18th and 19th century buildings in Dublin were falling down by the 20th century. Some of it was sadly intentionally knocked for redevelopment but a lot of it was dangerous and dilapidated.

      1. david

        And why?
        I would say the architecture during our days in the empire were the greatest buildings ever constructed here
        Sadly corruption has ensured eyesores and Gerry built slums of the future

        1. ahjayzis

          London becoming our capital turned Dublin into the largest slum in Europe when our great and good left. Rack renting absentee landlords have very little interest in building upkeep.

          And also, it’s typical Georgian townhouses found in every British town – not the Forbidden City.

          1. The Old Boy

            One of the easy arguments that developers liked to use against the early efforts of the Georgian society was that there was little architecturally remarkable about buildings designed with red bricks, a set square and a plumb line. The ESB brought in an English Georgian expert to damn Dublin’s Georgian mile with the faint praise that it was “mediocre”.

    3. david

      Amazing the Chinese
      They can build a bridge linking china mainland to Hong Kong for the price of two national maternity hospitals and a bridge Macau to Hong kong for three times that
      meanwhile in Dublin powerhouse driven economy they cannot even get the specs for the luaus right or even some affordable housing
      As for broadband for the rural areas lads still scratching their heads on that one

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