Parc de la Villette, Park in the 19th arrondissement, Paris, France
Parc de la Villette is a large park in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, crossed by the Canal de l'Ourcq and open at all hours without fences. It brings together open lawns, ten themed gardens, and major cultural buildings including the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie to the north and the Philharmonie de Paris and Grande Halle to the south.
The site was a major slaughterhouse and meat market district serving Paris throughout the 19th century, and only a handful of old structures survived when it closed. In the 1980s, the city launched an international competition to reimagine the land, which Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi won, and the park opened in 1987.
Every summer, the park hosts an open-air film festival that picks a new theme each year, drawing crowds who settle on the lawns with blankets and food. At the end of summer, the Jazz à la Villette festival fills the area with music, turning the park into a gathering place for Parisians and visitors alike.
The park has no fences and no set opening hours, so it can be visited at any time of day or night. The metro stops at Porte de la Villette in the north and Porte de Pantin in the south, each giving easy access to a different part of the park.
Scattered across the park are 35 bright red metal structures called folies, each built purely for visual interest with no practical purpose. They were a deliberate part of Tschumi's design concept, which challenged the idea that every element of a park must serve a function.
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