Arsenal Subway Stop -- Paris
Here’s Manal Rachdi and Nicolas Laisné proposal to turn the underground station at Arsenal, near Versailles, into a garden. Candidate Kosciusko-Morizet told Elle France that she normally takes lines 8 and 13 and often finds “moments of grace” on the subway. Photo courtesy Laisné Architecte.
In a campaign pledge last week that resembles the a high school candidate’s promise to give out free pop during lunchtime, Paris mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, of the center-right UMP party, floated the idea of reworking the abandoned “ghost stations” on the Paris metro. Photos released by her campaign, created by architects Manal Rachdi and Nicolas Laisné, show unused stops reimagined as public hotspots boasting amenities such as a swimming pool, theater and concert hall, nightclub, art gallery and restaurant. While the move hasn’t made waves with the voting public, we love the idea. Here’s a selection of other plans, proposals and projects that reconceptualize what can be done underground.
Slideshow