Paris 2050: Rehabilitation of the Maine Montparnasse District
Analysing Paris to identify areas which are irreconcilable from the historical urban fabric of the city and proposing urban interventions to rehabilitate these sites based on the traditional model.
“Modernist experiments have damaged cities around the world, but nowhere more so than in Paris.” (Berlinkski, 2018)
Jan Gehl talks about the two paradigms which destroyed cities beginning in the 1960s – the invasion of cars and the planning of cities from above (and without consideration for human scale or experience). These changes fuelled the modernist experiments in architecture which corrupted many European cities. Previous to this, architecture took precedence from the existing and adapted to changes which came with socio-economic and political development. However, this leap in architecture made little sense and ended up degenerating parts of cities across Europe.
This project analysed Paris to identify areas which are irreconcilable from the historical urban fabric of the city. Proposed urban interventions, based on the existing – and historic – fabric of the city, are used to stitch the areas back into the city and create harmony between historic and contemporary architecture. The Montparnasse District, one of the most controversial areas in Paris as it hosts the only skyscraper within the Boulevard Périphérique, is used as the site to test the hypothesis.
Collaborators: Deni McElroy, Lucy Troughton