Atención: Eye on Architecture. Those Powerful Rhythms that Hold Every Great City Together

By Cathi House

There is a rhythm to every great city, a palpable beat that moves through the streets, felt in the cadence of those walking, the ebb and flow of traffic, the movements of those who live there, the calm buildings punctuated by great monuments… Once you feel the rhythm, you feel everything start to pulse with it. We have just returned from six weeks in Paris and the rhythms of that great city still modulate our heartbeats, reluctant to let us feel San Francisco again.

It’s easy to see why Paris is called ‘The City of Light’ and ‘The City of Love’. The sun bouncing off luminous spring-blue skies through rosy pink clouds of dawn, throws a warm glow onto the soft ivory-grey limestone of Paris’ walls. Cafes open and proprietors arrange their tables in neat, tightly configured rows. People walking pause in greeting; others make their way on bicycles or scooters. Birds call out, finding who is where. Small trash trucks gather debris neatly arranged for them; street cleaners wash the streets and sidewalks. The blue deepens; the clouds dissipate, taking their pink veil with them. The metro opens, traffic begins, groups of police on foot gather at the boulangerie for morning coffee before starting their day.

We chose our apartment well, right in the geographic center - walking distance to Notre Dame, the Louvre, Le Halles, St. Chapelle, the Tuileries Garden, the Picasso Museum, a short ride to the Eiffel Tower, the Quai Branly, the Museum d’Orsay, the Bourse de Commerce, slightly longer rides to weekend flea markets where we spend so little for treasures we can barely carry and test bargaining learned from the best in Morocco. We have seen so much, have walked for days, other days spent reading, watching old movies, dreaming. We set up a ‘studio’ for me to make jewelry out of some of our finds, saw an incredible sound and light show inside a grand Gothic church, lit candles for loved ones in Notre Dame, saw a chamber music group performing a Beatles retrospective… Every monument, museum, street, garden, shadow, texture, flower, bench…offered us a unique glimpse into this wondrous city.

People walk with purpose, or pause for coffee, pastries or any of the other delicious offerings as the cafes everywhere fill. Conversations are lively but quiet so as to not disturb the next table almost touching, also with lively conversation going on, each group focused on their own, not disturbed by the next. There are many people walking dogs, each one greeting their friends with wags and kisses. People are noticeably well dressed - elegant blacks, grays, whites, ivory - with a bright touch of red or pink in a scarf or bag, everything well layered, buttoned, draped or tied.

Paris has surprised us. It’s so much more wonderful, elegant, well educated, filled with monumental buildings, dazzling art museums and galleries, and more livable than we expected. The street plan is like an enormous spider web, where every block or two, streets branch or bend. Except for grand avenues, nothing runs straight for very far, so your vista is pulled in myriad directions, every intersection a multi-street composition of triangular buildings. Every street is tree-lined opening to parks everywhere, both intimate and grand beyond comprehension. After a harsh winter, spring is arriving - hour-by-hour, day-by-day we see life returning to trees, parks, balconies - all bursting into green that glows whether the sun is touching them or not. It feels like watching slow, time-lapse explosions of leaves opening before our eyes. Cherry blossoms were first, their delicate petals littering the otherwise spotless streets. Paris has a tangible calmness - with people enjoying life. Cafes are full, benches are everywhere and well used, and people talk to each other…

México City was where we first felt the deep rhythm of a city, the beautiful throbbing pulse of millions of lives tightly woven together. It taught us to truly feel - in the depths of our souls - that great cities are living entities. Once you feel the rhythm, you feel everything pulsing with it. Paris was wonderful, truly amazing. But, strangely, it kept reminding us of our beloved México. We have traveled well all over this world, experiences we treasure. But we always feel the pull of México City and its powerful rhythms, where the drum beats in the zócalo echo like the heartbeat of the world… and those of San Miguel, where our hearts live and pulse in perfect rhythm with life.

Cathi House is a resident and practicing architect in San Miguel since 1992. Cathi and Steven’s 5^th book, "San Miguel de Allende: the soul of México"was recently published.  

cathi@houseandhouse.comwww.houseandhouse.com