4K Brutalist Paris 🇫🇷 - Part 2: Les Choux de Créteil

Le Chou de Crutelles, the most romantic Brutalist district in Paris. Let's take a walk inside. We are walking from the train station to the center of the magnificent Brutalist district, Le Chou de Crutelles, which is situated in Crutelles, a commune in the suburbs of Paris. It is the large complex of cylindrical buildings, which includes ten 15 floors high round towers, a ring building of six floors, two schools and car boxes. The complex was designed by Gerard Graval and was completed in 1974. This project is a kind of architectural sculpture, the concrete poetry. The shape of the towers, similar to cauliflower, because of the balconies, gives its nickname to this neighborhood. The project was recognized as a heritage of the 20th century by the French Ministry of Culture in 2008. Le Chou de Crutelles was initiated in 1966 at the place of the market garden, which was one of the main vegetable production centers in Paris. The architect Graval said he was tired of seeing enormous buildings rise, perfectly aligned, similar to each other and without a character. The excuse of the war was no longer enough to propose this type of architecture. The project was aimed to create more flexible, more vegetal, more feminine forms. The flower is the anti-cube, said the architect. Petal form balconies break up the image of the anonymous production and distinguish towers from the surrounding buildings. Moreover, the architect wanted to further enrich the strength of the facade, creating a greenery, which, however, was never made. All apartments are equipped with a balcony petal, large concrete shell reaching almost 2 meters in its high point and about 15 centimeters at the low point. This unusual layout allows the inhabitant to have on the right and left of his balcony a view of the city, and in the center a private oasis. In 1998, the municipality decided to renovate the district, so the central cauliflower, made up of social housing occupied by families in a precarious situation, is being restructured. Also, mix of functions were added. One part of the apartments became student housing. For now, we can see that some of the towers are under renovation as well. The pedestrian part and the greenery was also renovated to provide a comfortable way to reach the near-situated university. Being the emblem of the architecture of the 1970s, Le Chou de Crutel has also become an element of popular culture. And what do you think about this cauliflower district? Let us know in the comments! Thank you for walking with us! On our channel, you can find more videos about Brutalist architecture. See you in the next walk!