Terrils turn spotlight on Louvre

LENS, in northern France, has several claims to fame. Its railway station is unique and the only branch of the Louvre, outside Paris, has been established in the town.

But the most conspicuous feature of Lens is the extraordinary landscape of spoil-heaps, known as ‘terrils’, in which it’s placed. Some are perfectly shaped cones, one of which is the largest man-made mountain in Europe. Once considered eyesores, these are now cherished; those who want to demolish Poolbeg’s twin chimneys please note!

Lyon Airport’s Gare de Saint-Exupéry TGV station, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is shaped like an aeroplane. The concept of this 1994 building seemed revolutionary at the time but it wasn’t; the Gare de Lens, built in 1926, took the form of a steam locomotive. This Art Nouveau building sports a 23m high ‘funnel’, a driver’s ‘cab’ and ‘wheels’. Mosaics, evoking the area’s coal mining past, decorate the interior.