Place de la Republique is beautiful square wrought with problems on the border of the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements in Paris. Strangled with traffic, the everyday conflict between people and cars is a major obstacle to the use of the square.
My plan takes precedent from both the history of the site, and the Art Nouveau movement, to create a cohesive plan for the site. Traffic is rerouted around the square as it is now connected to the north east blocks. A raised pedestrian promenade that winds its way across the site like a vine, allows people to experience the city from a story above and walk through the canopies of the the beautiful Horse Chestnut trees. At street level a series of building/landform hybrid structures populate the perimeter of the square to help reduce the traffic noises as well as provide spaces for cafes, and accessible grassy hill sides for lounging. These structures rise up to to allow for multiple opportunities to access the raised promenade. A large open space is incorporated into the plan to allow for protests and rallies which traditionally take place in this square. On the opposite end a more intimate tree covered space is created with a water jet fountain for quite meetings and people watching.
