stood proud of the leaves of the trees, and so big that it could never be truly seen at a single glance: mysterious, carpeted with leaves like a fantastical creature, you could see snippets, flashes of it, glimpse a part of the sum, perfect for the daydreaming, for fiction, an imaginary glasshouse world. But that day, I entered the building from below, from the back, through its darker reaches: ground level. An appropriate place to consider its design, its foundations, and the key elements of the restoration project designed by the architect François Chatillon. With the 1900 Universal Exhibition approaching, the French State decided to give Paris a large- scale, prestigious and versatile venue. It was built in just three years, from 1897 to 1900, on a plot situated between the Seine and the Champs- Élysées; a remarkable project that employed thousands of people, used draft horses and steam engines, rail, mobile cranes and river transport, and imported materials from every region of France. This project, the subject of much interest from public and press alike, heralded the industrial revolution: it was the crucible of onward progress and the theatre of the resulting political and social upheavals, as demonstrated by the workers strike that paralysed the project in October 1898. ( )

Maylis de Kerangal

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