PROJECT: KENGO KUMA AND ASSOCIATES
The
Grand Paris Express project began in 2007 in an attempt to relieve overcrowding
and environmental degradation in the center of Paris with a new ring-shaped subway
network. We designed the station building that will serve as the northern hub
of the project. The
entire station was made into a park by creating greenspace on the rooftop and
connecting it to the ground by a ramp, redefining the building not as a closed box
but as a public space for the community.
This
multi-level park became a bridge over the railroad line, attempting to resolve
the division of the community by the main railroad line from the north of
France. The “green station” is softly wrapped in a curtain wall made of oak,
and the 30-meter-deep atrium that accesses the four metro lines is also
entirely covered in wood, creating a soft and warm space that contrasts with
the conventional stations made of concrete and steel.
The
rooftop garden reconnects the divided neighborhoods, and the wooden atrium
reconnects the earth to the sky. In the atrium, 108 statues of Venus evoking
the mother of the Earth by artist Prune Nourry are placed.
Client: Société du Grand Paris; Architects:
Kengo Kuma and Associates; Project Team : Aurélie Vernon, Amélie Fritzlar,
Mariya Popova Bricard, Florence Festa, Manon Taillepierre, Marina Aristondo
Gonzalez, Rabiaa Sbai, Matthieu Wotling, Jordi Vinals, Michael Abric,
Romain Beal, Bianca Sibilla, Nicolas Cazali, Veronica Bonanni, Julia Hajnal,
David Chinea; Quantity Surveyor: LTA; Landscape design: AC&T
Paysage; Lighting design: 8'18"; Acoustics: PEUTZ &
Associés; Sustainibility: AIA Studio Environnement; Facade engineer:
RFR; Security and fire consultant: VULCANE. Photo: © Michel
Denancé
