Site Tour Eiffel

Gross. Max. proposals radically rethink the role of nature in our cities. Climate change has caused a seismic and irreversible paradigm shift. Once more Paris could be at the very epicentre of a global revolution. This new attitude towards nature in our cities will dramatically change the way we design, orchestrate, enjoy and manage our public spaces.

Our competition proposals are comprised of landscape and public realm of various categories. At its very core we introduce a series of new public spaces by prioritising pedestrians above cars. These spaces are acting as the missing links in the current brutally cut-off pedestrian circulation.

We create ecological landscapes that provide space for floral and faunal habitat, often combined and integrated as part of a hydrolic infrastructures which address surface water run-off. For example, a new water purification garden will be inserted alongside the sloped contours of the Trocadero fountains. It will utilise the existing gradients to create a natural flow which consist of a series of basins culminating in waterlily ponds adjacent to the river Seine. The current ‘crew-cut’ Champ du Mars Tapis Vert will be transformed into a dazzling bio-diversity-rich wildflower meadow. We also introduce the notion of community gardens as productive landscapes that expand urban agriculture and renewable energy operations, and envision transitional landscapes that celebrate the art and event installations for which Paris is known.