Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Guimard building of the Louis Blanc station, located at the intersection of Rue La Fayette and Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin (Paris 10th), is one of the few Art Nouveau accesses of the Paris metro still in place. Designed by Hector Guimard, it was inaugurated in 1910, at the opening of the station, almost three weeks after the initial section of Line 7. Its characteristic style, marked by vegetal curves and cast iron structures, makes it a valuable testimony to the aesthetics of the Belle Époque. The church was inscribed in historical monuments by order of 29 May 1978, a protection renewed in 2016.

The Louis Blanc station, to which this edicle gives access, has an exceptional architectural configuration: it consists of two superimposed half stations, one so-called "upper" (lines 7 and 7 bis) and the other "lower" (line 7 only). This provision results from its former role as a junction point between the branches of line 7, before the section towards Pré-Saint-Gervais became independent under the name of line 7 bis in 1967. Until 2004, the 7 bis trains carried out a complex turnaround between the two levels, which had since been abolished for technical reasons.

The history of the station is marked by technical events and renovations. In 1973, a derailment caused 19 injuries. The docks were modernized after 1988 with the decorative style "Oui-dire", adopting distinct colours (yellow for the upper station, green for the lower one). The corridors were renovated in 2004 as part of the "Metro Renewal" programme. The Guimard edicle, meanwhile, remains a symbol of the Parisian industrial and artistic heritage, illustrating the integration of art into urban infrastructure at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The station derives its name from Rue Louis-Blanc, itself named in tribute to the politician Louis Blanc (1811–82), figure of Utopian socialism and the Second Republic. Although it is the only classified element of the station, its immediate environment reflects the labour and industrial history of the 10th arrondissement, marked by the presence of the Canal Saint-Martin and of former manufactures. Today, it is a visual and historical landmark for the 2.3 million annual travellers (2019 figures) visiting this strategic station of the Paris network.

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