RISING MEASURES
A STUDY OF BUILT FORMS AND PUBLIC GROUNDS OF SUBRURBAN PARIS
Project Date: August- September 2018
Type: Research / Speculative project
Pari Riahi, Team Leader and PI
Victoria Capaldo, (BARCH 2020)
Henry Francis, (BARCH 2020)
Samantha Gallagher, (BARCH 2020)
The current project engages with the suburbs of Paris with the goal of improving their open and public spaces and fostering more attuned environments for its inhabitants. The disjointed body of the Parisian suburbs, which are separated from the well-defined city, presents a unique case of the lack of viable public and open spaces that can serve the large population. By defining the ‘ground’ as the primary element that holds both the formed structure of the city and the shifting fields of public housing projects in the suburbs, the proposal is in search of forces that make the exchange between the two worlds more synchronous. An alarming lack of designated spaces for encounter, exchange, and leisure in the presence of the others makes the environments surrounding the large public projects into voids that connect the transportation hubs to the individual dwelling units.
Public spaces are often multi-layered spaces that allow for a multiplicity of events and behaviors to unfold within the confines of the public sphere of life. However, Parisian suburbs, which house a large population that gravitates around the Paris Intramuros, carry the traits of violence, inequality, and segregation. The terrorist events of the past few years are an indicator of a polarized condition, exposing us to a society that dwells upon shifting cultural, political, and economic realities. The eruption of violence, the raise in inequality and the dramatic changes in lifestyle in Paris are not isolated measures. They epitomize the western world’s dilemma of coming to terms with economically, socially, and culturally disadvantaged clusters of social housing. By focusing on the notion of public spaces as the ground that sustains one’s interaction with others, the project is preoccupied with shared land/city/suburb-scapes that may be explored in different forms and shapes.
The research has been supported by a UMass Amherst FRG/HEALY Award.