Skyline desire: the value of the views from home and above Producing and living in high-rise buildings in the metropolis of Lyon

Résumé En

Today, the resurgence of high-rise buildings in the skyline of French metropolises confirms the revaluation of urban forms of vertical habitat. Unlike the previous generations of towers, mostly dedicated to social housing in the peripheral areas, contemporary towers are socially selective. According to real estate promoters, a distinctive feature of these “immeubles de belle hauteur” is the possibility of acquiring a view of the city from above. The aim of my contribution to this book is to understand this apparently new interest in the view from above in contemporary urban living. Is this skyline desire only a trend specific to new vertical housing developments, or does it reflect a general logic that also concerns other, lesser-valued types of towers? I use a mesological approach based on the study of materials related to the conditions of production of old and new luxury and social housing towers in France as well as the dwelling experiences of these towers. My point is to demonstrate that the domestic view on the city from above can be considered as a privilege of the body in the context of urban densification. Indeed, the value of the domestic experience of the skyline is now conditioned by many factors such as the cultural background of inhabitants, the financial capacities of households but also the location of the tower/flat within the city and the technical insulation of the housing from the outside. When they are incorporated, these factors are expressed in a singular way depending on the mesological positions and reveal a situation that is more complex than it seems.