CREDIT: cop. Yves Lion Equipe Groupe Descartes/Habiter les fleuves
Paul Lukez of WorldChanging has written an amazing piece on Le Grand Pari, The Grand Paris Project, convened by President Nicolas Sarkozy to envision the city as a model “Post-Kyoto Metropolis of the 21st Century.” Sarkozy’s commission included 10 architects and their multi-disciplinary teams. Their charge: transform Paris, and particularly its suburbs, through densification of underutilized areas while improving transit connectivity. The results of these proposals are on display as part of the exhibition “Le Grand Pari de L’agglomération Parisienne” until November 2009.
In “Transforming Paris: ‘Le Grand Paris 2030’ as a Post-Kyoto Metropolis”, Lukez writes:
“The discussion of the sprawling metropolis cannot exist without addressing the role of nature and ecology. Inventive strategies for integrating nature into the metropolis were readily evident. The River Seine and its valley can act as a revitalized armature for urban development models that are ecologically sensitive. In other proposals, forests and farms re-inhabit the metropolis, pumping oxygen and recreational opportunities into the metropolitan domain.
The city is no longer a dominant center fed by secondary communities on its fringes. Instead, the metropolis operates as a polycentric/multi-nodal conglomeration. Recognizing this reality requires an infusion of infrastructural, urban, and architectural interventions to strengthen the dispersed metropolitan nodes and the connections between them. The metropolis can evolve into a meaningfully interconnected and layered network of nodes, each intensified with uses and amenities. Infrastructure plays a special role in this strategy.”
The city is no longer a dominant center fed by secondary communities on its fringes. Instead, the metropolis operates as a polycentric/multi-nodal conglomeration. Recognizing this reality requires an infusion of infrastructural, urban, and architectural interventions to strengthen the dispersed metropolitan nodes and the connections between them. The metropolis can evolve into a meaningfully interconnected and layered network of nodes, each intensified with uses and amenities. Infrastructure plays a special role in this strategy.”
Read the full article here.
CREDIT: Finn Geipel + Giulia Andi - Equipe Lin
