Sport in the city

As industrial society conceived modern sport in the XIXth century, the postmodern urban society at the end of the XXth century pushed informal city sports underground, which are equally strong indicators of the lifestyle transformations and the contemporary social relationships to urban spaces.

ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES



These physical activities exercised independently of institutional structures and sports federations should be placed amongst the thousands of playful practices by which inhabitants reappropriate the public space within their cities?

Ski dans Paris, Ski dans Paris, glisse extrême, Julien Diaz © INA, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Skating in Paris 

Skieurs sur une piste artificielle aménagée dans les anciennes Halles centrales de Paris, en décembre 1969., © Josée Lorenzo/INA, 1969, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Skiers on an artificial track (1969) 

Jérémy Garcia, skater., © David Turakiewicz, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Board activies, urban travel, cycling, and ball games are some of these "alternative practices". As is evident with such neologisms, they never stop reinventing themselves. Streetball, Parkour, Freestyle, Street Surfing, Urbanball, and Skateboarding are some of these creations which would each be contemplated in a more precise way.

Bike Polo au Palais de Tokyo, Bike Polo au Palais de Tokyo © Kevin Walsh, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Bike Polo at Palais de Tokyo 

Sport musculation de rue, © Sophie Robichon/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Daily on the sidewalks, in gardens, at the edge of the Seine, city-dwellers gather and transform the city into an open-air gymnasium. Whether these disciplines are named crossfit or street workout, they reproducing gymnastic figures while associating them to a race, jump, weight lifting, the movement of objects and the use of devices outdoors.

Taï Chi Chuan, © Gérard Sanz/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Taï Chi Chuan 

Espace de glisse Léon Claudel, © Jean-Baptiste Gurliat/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Léon Claudel skatepark 

Pink Flamingo, résidence étudiante et playground de basket, Paris 13e, 2012. Stéphane Maupin, architecte, 2012 ; Vinci Immobilier pour RIVP et CROUS de Paris, maître d’ouvrage., Pink Flamingo, résidence étudiante et playground de basket, Paris 13e, 2012. Stéphane Maupin, architecte, 2012 ; Vinci Immobilier pour RIVP et CROUS de Paris, maître d’ouvrage. © Clément Guillaume, 2012, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Pink Flamingo, student residence and basketball court, Paris 13 (2012). Architect Stéphane Maupin. 

Inauguration des berges de Seine Rive gauche, © Sophie Robichon/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Inauguration of the Berges de Seine Left Bank 

Randonnée Rollers et Coquillages, © Gérard Sanz/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Rollerblade and Rollerskate tour 

Partie de badminton aux Invalides, © Année Zéro /Stéphane Demoustier, Benoît Marn, Jeanne Demoustier, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Badminton at the Invalides 

Bords de Seine, © Jacques Leroy/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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The banks of the Seine 

Capoeira, © Jacques Leroy/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Capoeira 

Skyliners Paris - Sébastien Montaz, Skyliners Paris - Sébastien Montaz, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Paris Skyliners - Sébastien Montaz

Partie de pingpong, © Année Zéro /Stéphane Demoustier, Benoît Marn, Jeanne Demoustier, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Ping-Pong game

Streetgolf - le 19ème trou, Streetgolf - le 19ème trou © Gildas Raffenel, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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StreetGolf - “The 19th hole” Collective 

Dash contest PSC Berges de Seine, © Paris Skate Culture, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Skate contest on the Berges de Seine

Appearing in France at the end of 1990s, Parkour is an alternative sports practice in urban zones. This “art travelling” calls for jump tricks, techniques of climbing and fast running to cross the inexhaustible variety of physical obstacles produced by the city scape. Inspired by the sports routines of Georges Hébert's “Natural Method”, Parkour grew in Ile-de-France, between Évry and Courcouronnes, from the transformation of a climbing sculpture, The Lady of the Lake, by two young sportsmen, David Belle and Sébastien Foucan.

Saut de chat, © Parkour Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Paris, terrain de jeu, Production exécutive : Année Zéro /Stéphane Demoustier, Benoît mArtin, Jeanne Demoustier, 2014, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Paris, a playground. 

Partie de hockey sur patins à roulettes, esplanade des Invalides, Paris, mars 1941., © LAPI/Roger-Viollet, 1941, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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A roller skating hockey match, Plaza of the Invalides (1941)

Tournoi de Bike-Polo, © Tristan Puchaux, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Bike Polo tournament 

Skatepark à la Villette, 1978, © LAPI / Roger-Viollet, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Skatepark at La Villette (1978) 

Espace de glisse Léon Claudel, © Jean-Baptiste Gurliat/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Léon Claudel skatepark 

Démonstration des sapeurs-pompiers, exercices d’escalades le long d’une maison, caserne Carpeaux, 1913, © BNF, département des Estampes et de la photographie, 1913, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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A demonstration by firefighters (1913) 

Sport musculation de rue, © Sophie Robichon/Mairie de Paris, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Street sports

Réaménagement de la place de la République, Réaménagement de la place de la République, 75003/75010/75011 Paris. TVK Trévelo & Viger-Kohler Architectes Urbanistes ; AREAL + Martha Schwartz Partners, paysagiste ; AIK – Yann Kersalé, concepteur lumière, 2013 ; Ville de Paris, maître d’ouvrage. © Pierre-Yves Brunaud, 2013, From the collection of: Pavillon de l'Arsenal
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Place de la République

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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