Paris
As France was under reconstruction after WWI, the railway company "Paris-Orléans" starts building refrigerated warehousesto store foodstuffs arrinig from the country to feed Paris. In 1921, the refrigerated railway station of Paris-Ivry was born, and remained in activity untill the late sixties and the creation of "les Halles de Rungis". After the Paris-Orléans Railways company became part of the French Railways National Company (SNCF), the place remained abandonned during 15 years.
In 1980, the SNCF agrees to rent a few square meters to artists. Then in 1985, a real estate company started to manage the building. The «Frigos» were born. In a few days, every single square foot of the old warehouse was rented to new artists, current water and electricity were brought inside, and the floors were divided into apartments. Since then, the «Frigos» has become one of the high places for artistic creation in Paris.
Still considered as an abandoned industrial installation, the «Frigos» nearly disappeared when eastern Paris was re-planed. In order to preseve it, the city of Paris bought the place, and the inhabitants of the Tolbiac district founded an association that fights everyday to preserve the building that remains under threat.