L'Assassinat de Baltard ... Marc Pellerin ... André Laude ... [Photographies de] Jean-Claude Gautrand

Published in 1972 by Formule 13, L'Assassinat de Baltard serves as both a photographic essay and a historical lament for the demolition of Les Halles in Paris. Victor Baltard’s iconic nineteenth-century iron-and-glass pavilions, often referred to as the belly of Paris, were dismantled between 1971 and 1973 to make way for a subterranean redevelopment project. The book functions as a visual record of this destruction, capturing the skeletal remains of the structures as they were razed.

The volume features the stark, evocative black-and-white photography of Jean-Claude Gautrand, a prominent figure in French modern photography whose work frequently explored themes of urban decay and architectural obsolescence. Accompanied by the contributions of Marc Pellerin and André Laude, the publication reflects the intense cultural debate of the early 1970s regarding the preservation of Parisian heritage versus the pressures of architectural modernization. It remains a significant primary document for those interested in the history of urban planning and the evolution of French architectural photography.