Walking around Oslo shopping mall, heart of the biggest European Chinatown in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The mall is situated in the massive Olympiades complex.
The building permit for the Olympiades was submitted in 1967 and approved in 1969.
The first earthworks began in 1970 and the first three towers (Sapporo, Mexico City, Athens) were delivered in 1972. The Helsinki, Cortina and Tokyo towers were delivered in 1976.
All the buildings are named after former Olympic Games host cities.
These buildings, designed according to the latest standards, emblematic of Parisian modernism, had to wait many months before welcoming their first occupants. Too expensive for the average French, too modern for a whole wealthy fringe that preferred the central districts.
Starting from 1975, refugees who left their native Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos to flee communist regimes naturally moved to France, most of whom shared the language. Once in Paris, they were surprised to find an ultra-modern, almost uninhabited district, whose prices were unbeatable.
As such, the term “Chinatown” is inappropriate, because it was indeed mostly inhabited by Indochinese, at least in the first twenty years.
AloJapan.com