La Petite Ceinture: Reanimating the Urban Fringe

With the constant urge for progress that characterizes our society, there are bound to be some casualties. Disused and forgotten by the people not immediately involved with them, post-industrial areas are often left vacated and are quickly falling into ruin. Old factories, empty shopping malls, abandoned villages and creepy hospitals litter the urban fringes of many cities. They form an eyesore for developers and city officials and indeed many have fallen to the sledgehammer. Derelict areas like these, however, prosper in natural life and create a safe haven for people living in the margins of society. Insubordination, informal activities and people, plants and animals of all sorts can roam freely through these areas, creating an in-between zone of both material and psychological value. My project, the forgotten railway line circling the outskirts of Paris, is one of these invaluable territories of human and animal transgression, an oasis in the urban jungle. With impending formal development of the ring, these values could be lost forever. However, my design celebrates these intangible values, without falling into a lethargic laissez-faire. I focus with my interventions on the in-between state of abandonment and development, guarding the line for future generations.My project could be used as an example for future development not only on 'la Petite Ceinture', but on a much broader scale of the fringe and the urban wildscape.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Science