Haussmann
Build For The Rich
The Haussmannization of Paris improved the city in various ways, such as the health of the public with the new sewage system, but it’s arguable whether the aim was to improve people’s life or merely to push the lower class out of the center of Paris.
Almost two centuries later there is still a big problem with poverty and economic inequality in the capital. To highlight this issue I designed two street signs stating ‘Côte riche’ (rich side) and ‘Côte Pauvre’ (poor side) and hung them by the Arc de Triomphe and did a video recording of people’s reaction to them. Arc de Triomphe here stands as a link between the old and new Paris having exits to all different areas of the city, both wealthy and poor.
The completion of Boulevard Haussmann in Paris 1925. Photograph: Agence Meurisse.
Olina Olseth, Haussman, 2023. Sketches.
Olina Olseth, Haussman, 2023. Sign dimensions.
Olina Olseth, Haussman, 2023. Installation. Paris, France.
The overthrow of the statue of Napoleon I during the civil war between the Third Republic and the Paris Commune. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.