Champs-Elysées

On the Champs-Élysées, Paris fashioned itself according to a perspective of infinite progress. Three centuries after it was first built, cars, noise, pollution, tourism, a globalized commercial offering, and neglected gardens have warped the usage of this avenue and diminished its appropriation by Parisians. The exhibition “Champs -Elysées, History & Perspectives” presents the study conducted at the behest of the Comité Champs-Élysées by Philippe Chiambaretta in collaboration with some fifty researchers, historians, scientists, engineers, artists, and economic and cultural actors from France and abroad. It traces the development of “the most beautiful avenue in the world,” analyzes its current usages, and proposes a vision of its potential evolutions in response to the challenges this area of the city faces in the present day. It invites viewers to participate in the space’s metamorphosis.