top of page

RIVER GAUCHE URBAN PLANNING QUARTER

The River Gauche Urban Planning Quarter is 31 hectors of redeveloped land bordering the edge of Paris. The project originated from a closed down rail way storage facility, but today they are aiming to become the next high density urban axis of Paris, but there is still much to be done.

When considering the dynamics within the site, it is vital to consider the site's location between a major motor way and the Seine River. Due to the strong isolation from outer city communities to inner city development, the site proposed multiple challenges, some of these they still face today. The site was planned to host huge populations of the city while still maintaining strong connections to the surroundings. The site was also regulated by much of Paris's future goals, such as: high percentages of lower income housing, shortening travel distances between the average citizen and green parks, and accommodating for huge population influxes.

*** has proposed economic solutions through built regulations. Unlike most the the sites we have seen, they focused on maximum density for largley lower income people. In order to avoid generating a type of geto they have designed the buildings to blend low income into the surroundings, thus making them unrecognizable. They also regulating flooring levels specific to income and family size. This allows for growing families to be properly cared for without creating unlivable conditions. Much of the buildings also included sustainable strategies and building codes to better suit Paris's green goals. They also placed very little regulation on the building facades, other than height regulations, so that this place would be different than any other, and untimely an architectural playground.

The most impressive thing about the site to me was that it was largely created from regulations. Due to each building varying between public and privately owned, I would have guessed the outcomes to be very hodgepodge and random, however; the regulations on each site provided a strong togetherness, and I believe are untimely responsible for the success of the site.


You Might Also Like:
bottom of page