Extraordinary gardens for Champs Elysees

 

An image showing the planned redevelopment of the Champs Elysees, photograph by PCA Stream. Uploaded from The Guardian, USA edition, January 10th 2021.

I am just sharing a post that seems so interesting to me and related to this blog. The recognition of the need to remodel the most famous avenue in Paris, which has been an example for my native city, Downtown Buenos Aires, recreated in Avenida de Mayo. I am quoting part of the article from The Guardian today:

An image from the architectural firm PCA Stream showing the planned changes to the Champs Elysees area. Photograph PCA Stream. Uploaded from The Guardian, USA edition, January 10th 2021.

"The mayor of Paris has said a €250m (£225m) makeover of the Champs-Élysées will go ahead, though the ambitious transformation will not happen before the French capital hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics. Anne Hidalgo said the planned work, unveiled in 2019 by local community leaders and businesses, would turn the 1.9 km (1.2 mile) stretch of central Paris into “an extraordinary garden”. The Champs-Élysées committee has been campaigning for a major redesign of the avenue and its surroundings since 2018. (.....) 

 The committee held a public consultation over what should be done with the avenue. The plans include reducing space for vehicles by half, turning roads into pedestrian and green areas, and creating tunnels of trees to improve air quality. The Champs-Élysées’ name is French for the mythical Greek paradise, the Elysian Fields. 

It was originally a mixture of swamp and kitchen gardens. André Le Nôtre, Louis XIV the Sun King’s gardener, first designed the wide promenade lined with a double row of elm trees on each side, called the Grand Cours.

 It was renamed the Champs-Élysées in 1709 and extended, and by the end of the century had become a popular place to walk and picnic."

Read the article in full:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/paris-approves-plan-to-turn-champs-elysees-into-extraordinary-garden-anne-hidalgo