For those of you making the pilgrimage to Paris for Valentine's Day and hoping to head down to Versailles to indulge your princess fantasies, don't expect the good old palace to look like it has popped out of a storybook. Instead, you'll find that Versailles seems to have developed an curious growth since the end of this last summer, an addition which will be sticking around until 2011.
Designed to help process the 15,000 visitors a day to Versailles and clamp down on security, the Versailles Pavilion, "a modern horn of plenty with a big mouth and a small tail," is actually inspired by the orange Central Park Gates of Christo. Like the Gates, this concrete and timber tunnel is only temporary, but we're sure that it will find some way to either travel around the world or overextend its welcome at Versailles. Nonetheless, we're intrigued by the juxtaposition of the classical architecture of the Chateau versus this strikingly modern snake; it's almost reminiscent of a vacuum, sucking up the eager tourists and their traveler's cheques.
Related Stories:
· Versailles Pavilion by Explorations Architecture [Dezeen]
· Architecture Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Explorations Architecture]]]>
