designboom · Kunst en ontwerp

Les Caryatides de Guyancourt: A Photo Essay on the Postmodernist Complex of Suburban Paris

Located in Guyancourt, southwest of Paris, Les Caryatides is a postmodernist architectural complex designed by Manuel Núñez Yanowsky in 1992. The project features two identical apartment blocks supported by 18 colossal replicas of the Venus de Milo, serving as structural elements and a theatrical statement.

Manuel Núñez Yanowsky, a former member of Ricardo Bofill's Taller de Arquitectura, designed Les Caryatides, also known as Venus 18. The monumental Venus de Milo figures, exaggerated in scale and acting as load-bearers, support the residential superstructures, blending classical motifs with postmodern theatricality and irony. The architect himself has playfully questioned the building's title, adding to its mystique.

Les Caryatides is part of the 'villes nouvelles' initiative, aiming to decentralize Paris and improve suburban living. Unlike the austere 'grands ensembles' that preceded it, Yanowsky's design incorporates ornament, irony, and historical references, reimagining the ancient Greek caryatid in a monumental, postmodern context. Despite its relatively intimate scale with 110 apartments, the project is ambitious in its goal to humanize suburban life and create meaningful urban environments.

Yanowsky's work often blurs the line between satire and speculation, as seen in his earlier project, Les Arènes de Picasso. Les Caryatides embodies this ethos, embedding classical references structurally rather than just superficially. The Venus de Milo figures, with their missing arms, are a deliberate choice that heightens the theatrical irony, serving as both expressive and functional elements.

More than 30 years after its construction, Les Caryatides remains a polarizing landmark. While some view it as a refreshing departure from post-war rationalism, others find its scale and visual language jarring. This friction, however, is central to the project's vitality, challenging the notion that public housing must be modest or invisible and advocating for grandeur in everyday architecture. It has achieved cult status among architecture enthusiasts, celebrated for its ability to provoke thought and enrich lived experience through a rigorous yet irreverent use of history.

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