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This summer, outside of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the museum’s famous forecourt area will be the site of a timely skatepark activation by local artist Raphaël Zarka. His new Cycloïde Piazza installation is meant to connect young Parisian skate enthusiasts and forms a key part of the... View full entry
With its focus on mobility, greenery and renovation, the overarching legacy of the Paris Olympics looks set to be more promising than most, ultimately helping to stitch long-severed suburbs into the centre. The mental geography of most Parisians will expand, for the better. Perhaps that’s the most that could be hoped for: with its emphasis on speed and reliance on private developers, the Olympics can hardly be a vehicle for more equitable forms of development. — The Guardian
Oliver Wainwright unpacks the City of Lights’ vision for a green (some might say ‘greenwashed’) 2024 Olympic Games while complimenting some of the new architectural designs from Ateliers 2/3/4/, Kengo Kuma, and others. No survey would be complete, of course, without a site visit to the... View full entry
Archinect has received photos of the newly opened Simone Veil Bridge, designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas and Chris van Duijn in Bordeaux, France. The project spans 549 meters (1,801 feet) in length and is 44 meters (144 feet) wide, connecting the communes of Floirac and Bègles over the Garonne River... View full entry
The Grimshaw-designed Robert Poujade pedestrian bridge in Toulouse has officially opened. Developed alongside ppa.architecture as part of a consortium led by French civil engineering construction company Eiffage, which included Ingérop, ATP, and Quartiers Lumières, the bridge is one of... View full entry
Host cities through the decades, including Helsinki, Athens, London, Torin, Seoul, Barcelona, and most recently, Paris, have all used point access block housing that would be illegal to build in the U.S. When studying mixed-use Olympic Villages as a model for successful pedestrian-oriented development in the U.S., it becomes abundantly clear that major discrepancies exist between housing options in the U.S. and the rest of the world. — Medium.com
The endemic use of brick and natural stone in European apartment buildings versus their more combustible American counterparts is another factor underlying discrepancies architect Sean Jursnick herein describes as preventing the creation of better adaptable low-carbon multifamily designs in the... View full entry
Ten major companies in the construction equipment industry have formed a coalition to promote sustainability in the sector. The France-based organization, named the Community of Sustainable Equipment Players (CAMD), includes Bouygues Construction, Colas, Eiffage, Haulotte, JCB, Kiloutou, Manitou... View full entry
As the start of this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics draws closer in Paris, the first images of the Chatillon Architectes-led restoration of the Grand Palais have been made public. The initial phase of the four-year project that will be completed in 2025 involved expanding its capacity... View full entry
To date, only 30% of the tower has been repainted. Adding more than 100 weekly operations to monitor the lead increased annual running costs from €50m to €92m—and may reach a staggering €130m. The unions have also denounced the state of infrastructure, which sees tourists with tickets still queuing for up to three hours. — The Art Newspaper
In February, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (or SETE), which operates the tower announced losses nearing $2 million as a result of the weeklong strike. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has sparred openly with both France’s culture and tourism ministers about the tower’s lacking... View full entry
BIG has unveiled renderings for its new Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub project in Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city. The 129,000-square-foot building connects the city center to the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi and the Périole neighborhood and will be realized adjacent to the existing... View full entry
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has today announced Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as its selection for the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, one of the industry’s leading honors for community building and development worldwide. “La Dauphine,” as she is better known to the press... View full entry
MVRDV is behind a newly commenced mixed-use housing tract called La Serre, to be located in the Paris region’s ZAC Léon Blum eco-district at Issy-les-Moulineaux. The firm’s project announcement details an 18-story development defined by its open facade with a landscaped vertical village... View full entry
Montreal-based Moment Factory has completed an immersive multimedia experience inside the iconic Dôme des Invalides in Paris. The project, titled 'AURA Invalides,' consists of a 50-minute experience combining video mapping, lighting, special effects, orchestral music, and sound design to... View full entry
A 164-foot-tall timber tower designed by France and Australia-based firm Moreau Kusunoki has officially completed construction. The project features 77 housing units, serveing as a new residential center in the southeastern end of Paris. The tower is distinct through its grid façade... View full entry
The Mayor of Paris has announced that Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped installation is to be recycled for use in the city’s upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. As reported by ARTnews, the effort will be led by the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans. Under... View full entry
Jean-Louis Cohen, a renowned architectural historian, critic, educator, and curator, has sadly passed away in the Ardennes after suffering an allergic reaction from a bee sting, according to reports published this week in France and the United States. As the Sheldon H. Solow Chair of Architectural... View full entry
