Perhaps you've heard of them, since they served as the filming location for the blockbuster Hunger Games (film number III, part 2)? This building is the Palacio d'Abraxas, a social housing complex inaugurated in 1983 to promote social diversity in the town of Noisy-le-Grand, Seine-Saint-Denis.
The Palacio d'Abraxas, also known as Espaces d'Abraxas, is the work of Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, who also designed the Antigone district in Montpellier, and the Lac complex in Montigny-le-Bretonneux... All inspired by the same neoclassical style and in line with thepostmodernist architecture that gives the buildings their distinctive design. The complex is located in the Mont-d'Est district of Noisy-le-Grand, adjacent to the Arcades shopping center. The massive building has a total of 18 storeys and stands out from the Noisy landscape. At the center of the Palacio is theArc, which faces the Theater (below): these two parts of the architectural complex are the best known, having been featured in the Hollywood blockbusters the Hunger Games and Brazil, as well as other feature films.
The building is notoriously unsafe, which is why the municipality of Noisy-le-Grand was considering demolishing it in 2010. In the end, local residents campaigned to keep the building intact, but since 2018, with Ricardo Bofill's agreement, a renovation of the Abraxas spaces has been under consideration, enabling the neighborhood to be transformed and 800 new homes to be created.
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Please note: Espaces d'Abraxas is not a tourist attraction, but a residential area with an unfortunate reputation for insecurity. If you want to discover the place at all costs, do so only on a guided tour, such as those offered by Explore Paris for the Journées du Patrimoine or on other occasions throughout the year.
