The trompe-l'oeil facades of Paris

Whether you're a tourist or a well-informed Parisian, you've probably already passed by these fake facades ... and you didn't even notice them. And we'll explain why: These facades only serve to hide the mechanisms of the Parisian metro. If the RATP wanted to invest these old buildings is to place its ventilation shafts in the Parisian architecture, and not to distort the urban landscape of the capital. And there are many of them! Here are the addresses where you can see these facades:

The addresses that hide the ventilation shafts of the RATP :

• 44 rue d'Aboukir, 2e arrondissement

• 3 rue de l'Aqueduc, 10e arrondissement : only the first floor is a trompe l'oeil, the rest of the building is occupied

• 174 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 10e arrondissement

• 145 rue La Fayette, 10e arrondissement

The addresses of RATP rectifier stations, traction substations :

• 54 rue des Petites Écuries, 10e arrondissement

• 141 boulevard Diderot

Atristic installation :

• 1 bis rue Chapon, 3e arrondissement : The Specialists, a duo of artists, created a new dummy address by gluing a wooden plate imitating a door framed with siding, equipped with a bell, a mailbox and a nameplate. It is now part of the Parisian decor.

Now that you know all about the trompe l'oeil facades of Paris, you'll look at them a little more carefully the next time you pass by.