Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The flowered city is a unique architectural complex, composed of two parallel buildings housing about thirty workshops of artists. Located between Boulevard Arago and Rue Léon-Maurice-Nordmann in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, this closed and private residence, whose official address is 65 boulevard Arago, is distinguished by its history linked to art and creation. The workshops, built in two phases (1878 and 1888), reuse the materials of the Food Pavilion of the Universal Exhibition of 1878, designed by the architect Hunebelle. The engineer Montmorin-Jentel, architect of the City of Paris, erects twenty-nine white wooden chalets, offering spaces dedicated to artists since the late 19th century.

The flowered city quickly became an emblematic place for artists of the time, welcoming major figures such as Eugene Grasset, Amedeo Modigliani, and Paul Gauguin, invited by Daniel de Monfreid. Other illustrious names, such as Pierre Roy, César Domela, or Jean-Paul Laurens, occupied workshops there, while Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol made their bronzes skate there. In 1929, Louis Bouquet made a fresco for the Musée des Colonies. The city, threatened with destruction in the 1970s, was saved by citizen mobilization and the intervention of President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Since 1994, its facades and roofs have been protected as historical monuments.

Between 1934 and 1939, the Flowering City also houses the Deutsche Freiheitsbibliothek (German Library of Freedom), founded by German anti-Hitler writers. This underground library collects works prohibited by the Nazi regime, with the support of French intellectuals. Today, the city remains a space dedicated exclusively to artists, perpetuating its cultural and creative heritage in the Parisian landscape.

The building materials, which emerged from the Universal Exhibition of 1878, give the Floral City a special heritage dimension. The first building, erected in 1878 at the bottom of the plot, was followed ten years later by a second one along the Arago Boulevard. These chalets, designed by Montmorin-Jentel, combine picturesque aesthetics and functionality, creating an environment conducive to artistic creation. The city, owned by a private company, is always closed to the public, preserving its intimate character and initial use.

The protection of the flowered city in 1994 is an official recognition of its historical and architectural value. The inscription in the title of historical monuments concerns the facades, the roofs, as well as the ground of the plot, guaranteeing the sustainability of this place full of history. The mobilization of the residents in the 1970s, faced with a real estate project threatening its destruction, illustrates the attachment of the Parisians to this unique heritage, symbol of the artistic and intellectual life of the capital.

Future

The city is always reserved for artists. Threatened by developers in the 1980s, who wanted to build on the site, it was saved by protests that led to its ranking. Since 1994, it has been partially listed (facades and roofs) as a historical monument.

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