“Passages, spaces of transition for the city of the 21st century”, from May 4 to June 5, 2016 at the Passage du Désir space in Paris
Tunnels, bridges, footbridges, urban cable cars, escalators…
Sometimes pleasant, lively, intelligent, open to the urban landscape, entertaining, but most often gloomy, uncomfortable or even dangerous, forgotten or neglected by major development operations; spaces of multimodal passers-by, they are the essential links that allow us to move, as best we can, from one mode of transport to another, from one urban atmosphere to another, in our contemporary cities that are ever larger and fragmented by highways, railways or closed districts.
Shortcuts, transition spaces, privileged routes, passages are crucial to facilitate access for all to the city. Formal or informal, they are also places of sensitive experience, a transition between different worlds, physical, cultural or symbolic.
The 19th century invented the passage between the islets of the modern city; what passages to invent for today’s passer-by? This one, rightly, has become demanding. It is connected, equipped with luggage on wheels, on two wheels, one or on foot, sporty or tired, local or foreign…
The small scale that changes everything… or almost everything!
What are the specificities, avenues for reflection and innovation of these small spaces that must accompany urban changes and the transformation of mobility? How can we act, together, so that these small, low-cost joints that make our daily lives easier are not the main forgotten by the manufacturers of our cities?
Algiers, Antwerp, Barcelona, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cotonou, Grenoble, Maputo, Montevideo, Nantes, Ouagadougou Paris, Shanghai, Toronto, Tours, San José, Santiago, São Paolo, Tunis, Valparaiso, Volos…
Students, filmmakers, artists, residents, politicians, city technicians, researchers and professionals in architectural and urban design have mobilized all over the world to imagine these small places of the movement.
Projects in 20 cities around the world present to the public examples of today’s city barriers, the situations in which we pass through our daily mobility, and the solutions of tomorrow.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Espace Passage du Désir (at BETC)
85-87 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, 75010 Paris
Metro line 4: Château d’Eau / Metro line 5: Jacques Bonsergent / RER line A: Gare de l’Est
▪ Free admission
▪ Opening hours: Monday to Sunday (closing on Tuesday) from 2pm to 8pm
▪ Free guided tours every day (except Tuesday), from 6pm to 8pm
▪ The exhibition is translated into English
▪ A programme of meetings, debates, screenings, night sessions and workshops will take place within the exhibition itself as well as in nearby partner locations.
Find the complete program in a few weeks on this site.