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Origin and history

The Guimard building of the Place de Clichy station is an iconic architectural element of the Paris metro, designed in 1900 by the architect Hector Guimard for the Compagnie générale du Métropolitain de Paris. Originally, this covered entourage was installed at the Hôtel de Ville station (line 1, entrance rue Lobau), before being dismantled in 1972 when an underground car park was built. He then returned to the Abbesses station (line 12) in 1974, although Guimard never designed entourages for this line operated by North-South society. This edicle, registered with the Historic Monuments in 1965 and protected again in 2016, illustrates the Art Nouveau style that marked the entrances of the Paris metro at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Place de Clichy station, located at the crossroads of the 8th, 9th, 17th and 18th arrondissements, was opened on 26 October 1902 on line 2, then completed in 1911 with access to line B (future line 13) of the North-South network. The Guimard entrance to access No. 2, listed as a Historic Monument, is distinguished by its organic style and its cast iron and glass structures, characteristic of Guimard's creations for the metro. This type of school, originally widespread in Paris, is now rare, most of which were destroyed or replaced during the 20th century.

The history of this edicle reflects the urban and architectural evolutions of Paris. Displaced for the first time in 1974, it was finally relocated to its current location, Place des Abbesses, where it constitutes a valuable testimony of the Art Nouveau aesthetic applied to public infrastructures. Its registration in 2016 as part of a global protection of Guimard's achievements for the metro underscores its heritage importance. Place de Clichy, for its part, remains a major hub of the network, with an annual attendance of over 8 million passengers before the health crisis of 2020.

The choice to preserve and protect this edicle is part of a desire to preserve the industrial and artistic heritage of Paris. The Guimard edicles, although often seen as simple access to the metro, are in fact works of art in their own right, integrating technical and aesthetic innovations for their time. Their design responded to a dual challenge: visually marking the metro's entrances into the urban landscape while offering optimal functionality to users. Today, they have become symbols of the visual identity of Paris, attracting both architecture lovers and tourists.

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