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Arènes de Picasso

A suburban housing complex with astonishing architectural features, locally nicknamed "the Camemberts."

Noisy-le-Grand, France

  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
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The Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Grand is known for its architecturally unique environment, most notably home to the Espaces d'Abraxas. Similar in concept but much different in style, the Arènes de Picasso or "Picasso's Arenas" is a massive housing complex consisting of 540 residences, a nursery, educational facilities, and shops, designed by Spanish architect Manuel Núñez Yanowsky. It was inaugurated in 1985.

The complex is locally nicknamed "camemberts" after its iconic round façades, a pair of circles facing one another across a promenaded square. Almost futuristic, this post-modernist colossus is supposed to be an abstract representation of an overturned cart.

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Published

September 18, 2024

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