Olympiades, Neighborhood in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France
The Olympiades is a residential neighborhood in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, built on a large concrete platform that sits above street level, with shops and parking below. The towers rising from the platform were completed in the 1970s and give the area a look that stands apart from most of the city.
The neighborhood was built on the site of the old Gobelins freight station, which was demolished to make way for the project. The last tower was delivered in 1977, marking the end of one of the largest urban renewal operations in postwar Paris.
The Olympiades are closely tied to the Chinatown of the 13th arrondissement. Under the concrete platform and along Avenue d'Ivry, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian restaurants, supermarkets, and shops draw regular visitors from across Paris.
The neighborhood is served by the Olympiades station on metro line 14, which sits directly below the platform. The platform level is walkable, but the layout can be confusing, so it helps to allow some extra time to find your bearings.
The architect Michel Holley named the towers after European cities, such as Helsinki, Oslo, and London, to give the neighborhood a cosmopolitan feel. The area gained wider recognition after Jacques Audiard used it as the setting for his 2021 film of the same name.
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