Paris wasn’t always the city we recognize today.

In the mid-19th century, it was overcrowded, unhealthy, and politically unstable —
a maze of narrow streets, recurring epidemics, and constant revolutions.

In this episode, we explore how one man,
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, managed to transform Paris from the ground up.

Not as an artist.
Not as a star architect.
But as an operator of power, executing a radical political vision.

How did he do it?
What tools, authority, and structure made such a transformation possible?
And what was the human cost of redesigning an entire capital city?

This is the story of control, standardization, destruction —
and the accidental creation of one of the strongest urban identities in the world.

An episode about how cities are shaped,
how behavior is engineered,
and how vision becomes permanent.

Paris n’a pas toujours été la ville que l’on admire aujourd’hui.

Au milieu du XIXᵉ siècle, elle est dense, insalubre, ingouvernable.
Une ville faite de ruelles étroites, d’épidémies… et de révolutions.

Dans cet épisode, on raconte comment un seul homme,
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, a réussi à transformer Paris de fond en comble.

Pas en tant qu’artiste.
Pas en tant qu’architecte star.
Mais comme opérateur de pouvoir, exécutant une vision politique radicale.

Comment a-t-il fait ?
Avec quels leviers ?
Quel cadre politique, juridique et humain a rendu cette transformation possible ?

Une histoire de contrôle, de normes, de destruction créatrice —
et de la naissance involontaire de l’une des identités visuelles
les plus puissantes du monde.

Un épisode pour comprendre comment on ne façonne pas seulement une ville,
mais aussi les comportements, les flux… et l’imaginaire collectif.

In this episode, I dive into the story of Gentle Monster — a small idea born in Seoul that became one of the most creative and influential brands in the world of fashion and retail.

Why do their stores look like art galleries?

How did they turn a simple pair of glasses into a cultural phenomenon?

And more importantly: what can we learn from the way they create experiences, build a concept, and craft a completely unique imagination around a product?

I’ll take you back to the origins of the brand, the choices that shaped its identity, and how something ordinary became an entire creative ecosystem.

A brand.
An experience.
A concept.

And always the same question:

How did that guy make that thing?