A 50-METRE TALL wooden village has been chosen as the design to transform the Paris suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois.
The wooden construction was chosen this week after a competition and will see Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and locals Nicolas Laisné and Dimitri Roussel aim to completely alter the area.
The mixed-use development will be built using a timber frame with a concrete base and supporting column.
It will mainly house apartments, but will also have office space, a rooftop bar, a climbing wall, food courts and a gym.
It forms part of the French capital’s Inventons la Metropole du Grand Paris initiative, which aims to regenerate areas on the outskirts of the city, while meeting the challenges of climate change.
Part of the plan is the Grand Paris Express, the largest transport project in Europe.
The plans come as Paris embarks on a major physical overhaul of its deprived suburbs ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
These may indeed be the Paris Games — but a hefty chunk of the action will take place in Seine-Saint-Denis, a multi-ethnic suburb with an entrenched reputation for gang violence and drugs, and where more than a quarter live below the poverty line.
Many hope that this grim, grey vista north of the French capital will drastically change when the promised billions in Olympics investment start to flow.
Regional council president Stephane Troussel said the Games would “kickstart” Seine-St-Denis’s development.
He compared it to Brooklyn’s transformation from impoverished and crime-ridden to a hub of New York cool.
With AFP reporting
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