Even if you have never had the opportunity to visit Paris, you probably have a very clear notion of what the city’s distinctive architecture looks like. Not simply the iconic sights, such as Notre Dame and the Louvre, but the apartment blocks and residential neighborhoods. Well, now a group of scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and the École Normale Supéeieure have found a way to determine “What makes Paris look like Paris”.

The project involves processing thousands of Google Street View images that help to identify the idiosyncratic architectural elements that make up the city’s unique visual identity.