Tag Archives: urban design

Trocadero.©GP+B+Study-in-Paris

The Evolving City: Reinventing Parisian Squares for the 21st Century

Over the last decade Paris has been implementing a range of eco-friendly and sustainable initiatives. Some of these have little visible effect on the overall appearance of the city, like increased bike lanes, however, the local municipality has recently embarked on vast project to renew seven of its most iconic squares as well as the Champs-Elysées and the area around the Eiffel Tower. These large-scale projects aim to make Paris more accessible, greener, more beautiful and allow the city and its citizens to produce and breath fresher air.

The project revolves around seven of the city’s largest squares, which are distributed around the city: Nation, Gambetta, Bastille, Italie, Madeleine, Panthéon and Fêtes. Separately from the seven squares, there are also big plans for two of the most visited areas of Paris: Les Champs-Elysées and the area around the Eiffel Tower. The initiative is part of the Paris Climate Action Plan, a municipal-level initiative to meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement with the ultimate goal of making Paris carbon neutral by 2050.

The future Champs-Elysées. Image: Paris Futur

Hearing from residents was very important in the early steps of the process. To achieve this,  the city set up an online platform to gather input from the residents, launched in 2015. Further public opinion was gathered during 150 “town hall” style meetings and workshops. The key elements residents wanted these urban spaces to have were increased vegetation, larger pedestrian walkways, enhanced fluidity of movement and the ability to better enjoy these public space. Protected bike lanes and reduced automobile traffic (and thus noise pollution) were other factors highlighted in these public forums.

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The future Place-de-la-Concorde. Image: Paris Futur

In 2017, four collectives of architects, landscape architects, ethnologists and other specialists began designing these new spaces. The same year, the Paris Pedestrian Strategy was put in place in order to increase and simplify pedestrian walkways in the city. Similarly, the Paris Respire (Paris Breaths) initiative has born, with the objective of introducing several “breathing spaces” in each district as well as encouraging more cycling.

The future Place-de-la-Bastille. Image: Ville de Paris

The global results of the project should claim 25,000 m2 from traffic lanes, which will be converted into sidewalks, bike paths, sitting areas and vegetation. There should also be a total increased area of 15,000 m2 of vegetation, including the planting of 150 trees, as well as 5,000 m2 less pf asphalt-covered surfaces. What’s more, these squares will be 100 % accessible for people with reduced mobility and they will be equipped with ground markers for the visually impaired. Lastly, the squares will feature either water misters or water pools with jets, to help residents cool down on hot summer days.

Site Tour Eiffel . Amphithéâtre du Trocadéro © GP+B

Site Tour Eiffel . Amphithéâtre du Trocadéro Ville de Paris © GP+B

With the 2024 Summer Olympic games in sight, Paris is also reinventing the zone around the Eiffel Tower and that of Les Champs-Elysées. Entitled “OnE I”, the Eiffel Tower site project will extend from Le Champs de Mars, across the Iena Bridge and up to Place du Trocadero and created “green lungs” within Paris. The Trocadero gardens are going to be redesigned, and cherry trees planted, as well as the upper levels of Trocadero where and green amphitheatre like space will be created. All of these spaces will be accessible for people with mobility issues. Greenery will be planted on the Iéna bridge, the walkways along the Seine and the gardens of the Champs-de-Mars will also be refurbished. The Champs-Elysées project was given the green light by the Paris mayor in January 2021. The “most beautiful avenue in the world” will become even more beautiful thanks to a doubling of its greenery and pedestrian walkways.

les-champs-elysees-revamped-2024-study-in-paris

The future Champs-Elysées. Image: ©PCA-Stream

You don’t have to wait for 2024 to enjoy these improved public spaces in Paris, the works are being rolled out gradually. One of the first to be completed is Place du Panthéon which now has a modern urban sitting area on the north side, with benches made of recycled material. Much of the work has already been completed at Place de la Nation and Place de la Bastille, so you can already enjoy more space for enjoying both of these squares. Year by year, they will become more and more beautiful as the greener grows!

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Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris

The Evolving City: The Best Contemporary Architecture in Paris

Parisians have not always been welcoming to modern architecture. The city itself underwent massive urban restructuring in the mid-19th century during the rule of Napoléon III and overseen by Prefect Baron Haussmann. It wasn’t until a century later that the city experienced another wave of ‘modernism’, mostly relegated outside the city centre in the La Défense business district, although a few modern buildings popped up intramuros, such as the eclectic Centre Pompidou and the predominantly unpopular Tour Montparnasse. The 1980s and 90s saw the arrival of Les Grands Projets, a series of large scale building works instigated by President Mitterrand, including the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Opera Bastille, the Pyramid of the Louvre and the Grand Arche de la Défense. But how has the cityscape changed since then? From designs by Jean Nouvel to the return of Renzo Piano, here are the most notable examples of contemporary architecture in Paris built since the start of the 21st century.

Photo Credit: Fondation Louis Vuitton

Fondation Louis Vuitton – Frank Gehry (2014)

The recent building that has received the most unanimous praise from critics and citizens alike is this gleaming art centre nestled within the Bois de Boulogne woods at the western edge of Paris. In true Gehry form, mammoth curvaceous glass panels on wooden frames, nicknamed the “sails”, are at the forefront; these sit atop white blocks, or “icebergs”, which seem to float in pools of water. The sleek building hosts temporary exhibits revolving around the works of the Louis Vuitton fashion house collection, however, the building itself is well-worth visiting in its own right.

Photo Credit: Philharmonie de Paris

Philharmonie de Paris –  Jean Nouvel (2015)

No other architect has left their mark on modern Paris than Jean Nouvel. His latest Parisian building, la Philharmonie de Paris, located within the Parc de la Villette in northeastern Paris, certainly does not leave one indifferent. Created for the Symphony Orchestra of Paris, Nouvel paid particular attention to its 2,400 seat-auditorium, which has a central stage encircled by undulating tiers of seating to bring the audience as close to the musicians as possible. The eye-catching metallic exterior is enveloped in 265,000 aluminium birds which appear to swirl up around the building, perhaps dancing to the music performed within?

Photo Credit: Tribunal de Paris

Tribunal de Paris – Renzo Piano (2018)

Forty years after designing the Centre Pompidou in tandem with Richard Rogers, Italian architect Renzo Piano’s return to the Parisian architecture scene was not met with as much enthusiasm as the iconic modern art museum. The tallest building constructed in Paris since the 56-story Tour Montparnasse was completed in 1973, the new 38-floor Paris court house shimmers on the northwest fringes of the city, so much so, that the building almost goes unnoticed. The glass tower makes up for its lacklustre looks courtesy of its sustainability facilities including solar panels, enhanced thermal insulation, rainwater collection and other cutting edge eco-friendly technology.

la Seine Musicale

Photo Credit: la Seine Musicale

La Seine Musicale – Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines (2017)

Located in a crook of the Seine off of the southwestern suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, the former industrial island of Île Seguin, was given new life thanks to this dazzling concert hall. A play on words blending its location and its purpose, La Seine Musicale was a collaboration between French architect Jean de Gastines and Japanese Shigeru Ban, winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize. The oval-shaped structure is encased in glass sexagons and is hugged by a curved grouping of solar panels which creates a dramatic effect akin to a musical crescendo. The auditorium is equally impressive, with a ceiling of wooden honey-combs mirroring the exterior panels. Even if you don’t get to see the interior during one of its concerts or dance performances, a tour of the exterior still impresses.

Cité de la Mode et Design Paris

Photo Credit: Cité de la Mode et Design

La Cité de la Mode et du Design / Les Docks de Paris –  Jakob + MacFarlane (2010)

The arrival of the new Bibliothèque Nationale in 1990s, ushered in a new urban era for the northeast section of the 13th arrondissement which, especially over the last 10 years, has developed into the most exciting hub of Parisian contemporary architecture. The best known, and most recognisable example is this daring building. The French architectural firm of Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane deftly succeeded in converting an early 20th century concrete shipping depot into a hip centre for fashion and design. One can’t miss it thanks to the swooshing wave of green passageways dissecting the river-facing façade. The building houses the French Institute of Fashion, contemporary art exhibition spaces, shops and several bars on its sprawling rooftop.

Musée du Quai Branly

Photo Credit: Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac – Jean Nouvel (2006)

In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower is former President Jacques Chirac’s legacy to Paris, also designed by Jean Nouvel. According to the architect, the museum was built around the collection it was due to host; the French state’s 300,000 works from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Perched on stilts and hidden within trees, the building consists of large suspended, multi-colored boxes juxtaposed by a vast vertical garden, one of the city’s first, covering one entire wall. Rising in a spiral, the interiors guide visitors on an organic flow throughout the displays. It also has a rooftop restaurant with stunning views of the Tour Eiffel.

Tour_Triangle_Paris

Photo Credit: la Tour Triangle

This wave of contemporary architecture is far from over. Keep your eyes on the city’s horizon in the coming years for the arrival of Herzog & de Meuron’s Tour Triangle and a number of new soaring towers at la Défense, which will come dangerously close to the Eiffel Tower’s height of 324 metres.