Every country has its ugly spots, even France. Land of lavender fields in the south, the dunes and cliffs on the Atlantic, the Alps, the rolling vineyards, the beautiful cities and their markets with fragrant rusty chickens. There are places in France that are so unpretty in the eyes of the French themselves that they have attached the term “la France moche”, the ugly France, to them. The government calls them that too. Non-negotiable, beyond any aesthetic interpretation. Almost lost.
This refers to the country’s approximately 1,500 large shopping areas, which were built on agricultural land in the 1960s and 1970s, especially outside the gates of French cities. These are oversized centers that were previously only known from America, complete with gigantic billboards. The shops are housed in hangars. In the supermarkets, which are called “Hypermarchés”, there are five, ten, fifteen variants of each product; you get your feet sore in the aisles of shelves. In ugly France, the restaurants are also big and cheap, and the cinemas only show the latest blockbusters.
And best of all: parking is free. You drive there, park, shop, go out to eat, go to the cinema, then drive home again. The parking lot is the heart of the concept. But of course this is a concept from another era. “It’s time we bring these places into our century,” said Olivia Grégoire, France’s minister for small and medium-sized enterprises, trade, crafts and tourism, recently.
Everything should be different, especially more ecological. Trees should be planted in these deserts of sheet metal and concrete. The hangars should be re-insulated so that they no longer waste so much energy. Perhaps an architectural spruce-up can be achieved here and there. Some centers are to be completely demolished so that nature can take back a few million square meters of sealed land. Initially, the government selected thirty centers as pilot projects. There is now also a budget for the studies. “The transformation will take decades,” said the minister.
But something is lost in this laudable story. Many French people carry the “France moche” in their hearts. These often castigated eyesores, these sins of the urbanists – they are an integral part of the collective memory, far removed from aesthetic considerations. How many children’s birthdays and family celebrations were celebrated in the restaurants of the cheap chain Buffalo Grill alone, whose name is on almost everyone Commercial zone emblazoned.
These places were once signs of modernity, colorful and promising, a little bit of America. They also opened up consumption to those people from the periphery who could never afford the prices in the city centers. Now seventy percent of all errands in France are done outside in shopping centers. What if even ugly France gets cute – won’t the prices in the “Hyper” stores at Buffalo Grill also rise? Beautiful is only beautiful if you can afford it.