REINVENTING PARIS

"A city like Paris must be able to reinvent itself at every moment in order to meet the many challenges facing it," states Hidalgo. "It is important in today's world to find new collective ways of working that will give shape to the future metropolis."

Calling architects and developers to unite and create designs to transform a number of existing sites around Paris, anything from old railway stations to historic mansions and electricity substations, the competition has attracted a number of big names in the industry.

All the competition sites are on land and property either owned by the city or by social housing landlords, or developers who are paired with competitors in Reinventer Paris.

One of the winning design concepts comes from Jacques Ferrier Architectures and Chartier Dalix Architectes. Their project along Boulevard Périphérique – a major ring road that encircles the city – involves the creation of a shared landscape, formed by an integrated network of gardens. An elevated bridge crosses above the ring road, creating the platform for the structure that will contain a mix of commercial spaces including markets, shops, a school of urban horticulture, and a coworking space.

The connected roofs of the structure have been designed to create an urban farm dedicated to growing local produce, with shared pavilions that will allow patrons to each make use of the garden areas. Along with the landscaped bridges, balconies will form eco-systems that will benefit the environment.

With a number of transformative designs on offer for the famous city, all that remains now is for them to be fully developed into viable developments.