Take a self-guided tour of the former Babcock & Wilcox factories and discover the Babcockerie urban art trail!
Former economic lung of La Courneuve, the French Company Babcock and Wilcox settled in 1898 and built industrial boilers for the production of electricity. The site then turns to heavy boilermaking. The building of 4 hectares with vaulted halls of 15 meters high stops all activity early 2010. While the northern part of the site has already undergone a major requalification with the establishment of the Banque de France in 2017, the southern part of the site remained awaiting a project to its extent.
Identified by the city of La Courneuve and by Plaine Commune for its heritage interest and potential for change, the site is selected as part of the call for projects Reinvent the metropolis of Greater Paris: it will be rehabilitated as «Fabrique des Cultures», project led by the group Compagnie de Phalsbourg et Emerige, built around the ambition to make culture the vector of the reconversion of the site: a new mixed city district, integrate into the local fabric, articulated around a place of cultural destination, event and economic, and which will host housing and shops.
But in the meantime, at the initiative of 3 graffiti artists, Zkor, Sto and Namaste, the place has turned into a veritable underground museum. Indeed, since 2020, this industrial cathedral is invaded by lettering, stained glass, figurative drawings and anamorphoses. More than 130 artists have freely intervened to paint in situ, build installations based on found objects on site or perform performances, dances and songs. The artists who have invested the place met in an informal collective called La Babcockerie to highlight their work before it disappears.
Before the rehabilitation of the buildings, come and visit this remarkable architecture!
Two guides Thomasine Zoler, art historian and lecturer guide specialized in contemporary art and urban art, and Meuh, lecturer guide and graffiti artist, both specialists in the site, will be there to answer your questions in the triple hall painted by artists since their closure and enlighten you on the history of the factory.