Hand it to the French and the New York Times -- one creates a grand vision, and the other introduces it to the world.
Having been introduced to the proposals for Paris' new master plan, I'm almost ashamed to have participated in a very engaging master planning process for downtown Richmond. As the article do directly notes: "even if none of the proposals are ever built, they show a daring that has not been seen in a Western city for decades".
There are some amazing designs, but what is even more amazing is that the city of Paris was so intentional about the purpose of its future plan -- and that the architects responded so passionately to the challenges:
The aim of the study was twofold: to create a plan for a greener, more sustainable city, and to break down the isolation between the outlying neighborhoods and the historic center. The most thought-provoking designs operate on multiple levels, reaching beyond the issue of sustainability to address deeply entrenched social ills.
Among the most audacious is Mr. de Portzamparc’s plan, which proposes demolishing both the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l’Est and replacing them with a single massive European train station just outside the city center. The station would link to the Eurostar train lines to London and Brussels, as well as to a new elevated maglev train that would run above the périphérique. It would also anchor a towering new global business district, a rival to La Défense.
Mr. Rogers’s plan is equally ambitious. Noting that the tracks that connect to the city’s main train stations cut Paris into wedges, like slices of a pie, he proposes burying them all underground. A vast system of public parks would be draped over these new underground tracks, connecting poor and middle-class neighborhoods.
Check out all of the designs at Bustler.
I wonder what it would take for the Richmond region to step back and design a future urban center that reconnected our communities, embraced green technology, emphasized public spaces and dreamed of genuine transformation...
I mean, besides an entirely new generation of leadership.
Recent Comments