Paris wants to stop burning

Grand designs are afoot for Paris, again. The Guardian says , “the challenge… is not to reshape Paris, but rather to extend its inherent beauty to its outskirts, les banlieues – a web of small villages, some terribly grand and chic (Neuilly, Versailles, Saint Mandé, Vincennes, Saint Germain-en-Laye), others modest and provincial-looking (Montreuil, Pantin, Malakoff, Montrouge, Saint Gervais) and others still, socially ravaged and architecturally dehumanised (La Courneuve, Clichy-sous-bois). And also to link them.”

Jonathan Glancey makes the obvious point , considering what Paris has been through. “Big plans mustn’t be allowed to smother Paris. No single architect can ever right the city’s wrongs, or come up with ideal, universal solutions.”

Some renders of the 10 architects’ work.

Posted by Peter on 21.03.09 in urban planning