The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has launched an unprecedented city-wide competition for urban regeneration in the French capital.
Under the ‘Call for Innovative Urban Projects’ banner, 23 city-owned sites across the capital have been designated for development; the mayor is asking for teams of startups, associations, investors, companies, collectives, artists, architects and designers to ‘prefigure what the Paris of tomorrow might be.’
Elected in May, the mayor has laid down the gauntlet that metropolis’ must look to the future in order to survive. Speaking at a press conference on 3 November, Hidalgo said that ‘Paris has to reinvent itself every moment’, asserting her plan for the future of the city.
Launching of "Reinventing Paris" by Pavillon-ArsenalWith innovation as an overarching narrative, several of the 23 sites will need to be dragged firmly into the 21st century. The Hotel de Coulanges, one of the sites up for development, is a 17th century building currently being used as for municipal offices. Offering up 2,000sq m (21,528sq ft) for prime real estate entwined with Parisian heritage, the chance to redevelop the site and is likely to be a hot commodity for developers.
Jean-Louis Missika, deputy mayor, commented that the teams must "address innovation in all its dimensions… designing pluralistic buildings that are adaptable and intelligent."
Open to candidates worldwide, the deadline for expressing interest is 31 January 2015. Teams will be offered the chance to buy or rent the sites they are interested on working on. Stages of the competition will run until winter 2016.
