Figure/Ground in Paris

One aspect of Paris that becomes clear, especially if viewed from above, is the density of the urban fabric. The buildings carpet the landscape within a clearly bounded zone. The built carpet reverses the common notion of figure and ground in the urban environment. Generally, when we think of the ground we think of the earth or the landscape upon which figure or buildings are put/planted. What is fascinating about the urban fabric of Paris is the fluidity with which this concept acts. The carpet of buildings creates a ground in which the streets, parks, and monuments are cut out of and therefore become the figures in the landscape. This, in turn, means that the street, the park and the monument become privileged due to their difference from the overarching system. Urbanistically speaking, this has profound implications because the act of privileging such spaces changes the nature of the city and therefore the way people act in it. The street, the park and the monument are public/civic spaces in the city and the privileging of them helps to create an enlivened and vibrant city. As opposed to privileging the private realm of the home which is set back from the street. These spaces become unique and special in the eye of the citizen and appreciated for their ability to make a place amongst the overwhelming redundancy of the city.

The figure/ground relationship shifts back and forth depending on the scale you are looking at. For example, when looking only at a monument in the city, the monument becomes the figure amongst the ground of a park, sidewalk, and street. As we zoom out, the monument, sidewalk, street become a figure amongst the building fabric.

The other way in which these figures operate is to define our place, simply as people, in the world. In the midst of a dense city the person feels insignificant due to the fact that she/he cannot place themselves. Through grand boulevards and defining landmarks that cut through the mesh, the citizen can orient themselves not only physically but ontologically. This ordering and defining of our environment may be one of the essential acts that makes us human. Through this process we develop meaning and symbolism because the boundaries we create relate to shared cultural phenomena.