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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 14:40:25 GMT
The Parc Martin Luther King is one of the newest parks in Paris, in fact so new that it isn't finished yet. It owes its existence to the loss of the 2012 Olympics bid for Paris, because this was to be the site of the Olympic village for the athletes. For a hundred years, it was a huge rail yard, and anybody who knows the SNCF (French national railways) knows that it does not easily give up any of its urban territory. This is actually quite understandable as rail travel continues to expand. Any land that the SNCF already possesses can sit unused for 30 or 50 years until it is finally needed. However, if for some reason the SNCF has relinquished the land, it will automatically add hundreds of millions in extra expense to any new rail project. Well, the SNCF did not give up all of this territory, although it did allow a pretty big chunk to be bought by the government in this zone. A number of rail lines in the area are being put underground as part of the development, which generally makes everybody happy, and provisions have been made for the extension of metro line 14 at the same time. Anyway, knowing that a lot of construction is still in progress, I wanted to see what they were up to, so I purposely came around to the park from the back, completely unfinished side. Right now the park covers 4.3 hectares with another 2.5 hectares to be added in 2013. When the whole project is finished around 2017, the park will be more than 10 hectares. Just for comparison, the nearest large park to this one is the Parc Monceau, which is 8.25 hectares.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 14:59:27 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 13, 2012 16:35:10 GMT
Oh my goodness, this is so civilized, such an amazingly well designed and generous use of space. I suppose practicality demands tall buildings nowadays, which is a shame. But most of the buildings are so interesting and even cheerful.
It's already so natural and beautiful, it will be mind-boggling in its maturity. Well done, Paris! And as always, beautifully done, Kerouac -- thanks!
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Post by tod2 on Aug 13, 2012 17:14:17 GMT
Absolutely stunning! What a brilliant find. I am so glad you are our "Reporter in the field" ;D
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Post by fumobici on Aug 13, 2012 18:20:25 GMT
So cool that adding new park space is a priority. and looks close enough on the map to Square des Batignolles that it could easily have been rationalized as unnecessary.
Great photos too.
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Post by lugg on Aug 15, 2012 17:59:51 GMT
Fabulous K2 I really enjoyed reading and looking at the photos of this new park. looking forward to seeing more when you re-visit. And , your photos as always are just so good . Thank you
For me , there is something very special and fascinating about city parks, probably because I live in such a rural area where they do not exist
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Post by mossie on Aug 15, 2012 18:42:14 GMT
Good to see an waste area being put to good use. A coincidence that the Olympic Park at Stratford was also built on old derelict railway land.
I did like the lady in the blue jogging pants with the matching lamppost growing out of her head. Sorry Kerouac, that is a marvellous collection of pictures.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 20:17:42 GMT
Obviously, parks should be seen in all four seasons, so today I went back to see the park again. This being a weekday and with the children in school, there were far fewer people there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 20:22:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 20:31:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 20:36:05 GMT
I'll try to get back there when it snows...
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 10, 2012 16:28:23 GMT
Thanks for this great update! It's just wonderful that a city is willing to let a park look so natural, that kids will grow up knowing that nature is lushness, variety, & change, not rigid rows of small installed flowering plants.
I love all your pictures, but the one of the windmill behind the willowy branches is just pure pleasure.
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Post by nycgirl on Oct 11, 2012 4:48:33 GMT
Beautiful, such a serene and welcoming place. I like the quirky buildings in the area, too. This place reminds me a bit of the High Line , a park built on old rail line in the meatpacking district. The designers did an amazing job and gave the formerly scruffy area a new lease on life. It's one of the best projects I've seen. I don't usually get around to looking at this sub-board. I see I've been missing out.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2012 17:22:33 GMT
I kind of regret that "Public Gardens" is not more visible because it's true that you really have to hunt it down to find it if you are not a regular in the 'Putting Down Roots' zone (I confess that even I don't come here as often as I should, since I have no garden and don't have much to talk about unfortunately.). Nevertheless, it is a lovely bucolic area to visit from time to time and there are plenty of really fantastic photos to see on branches like "what's in bloom" or "what's in bud" just to name two of them. My own favourite is "seed heads" because it has more oddities.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 13, 2012 22:50:11 GMT
Yes, I came upon it by chance as well.
Are there any concerns about "security" in such an urban area? It is very different from the charming but more ordered (in an "English Garden" way, not straight rows" Square des Batignolles, not to mention the more haughty Parc Monceau.
I am glad that the more recent Holocaust and related massacre/genocide/war crime plaques now point to local complicity - that is true in Italy as well. And also specify that the occupiers were the Nazis - earlier memorials speak of the "Germans", while of course the first victims of Nazism were Germans themselves.
I don't have much in the way of a garden either, as we had so much infrastructure work at our co-op that earlier efforts were pretty much destroyed, which left our garden-lover seriously depressed and unlikely to start over again. And even my front balcony has been less beautiful than usual as there has been roadwork on my street since early in April and everything is covered in fine dust. I sweep it up daily, but it gets in everything. I set my hardy old geraniums and ivies out there (and in the back) again, but certainly had no herbs or tomatoes there, just in the back. The work crews have finally rebuilt the street in several layers (as there are serious investigations into corruption and collusion these days, jokes emerge about what bodies are buried beneath). They are putting down the asphalt starting Monday.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2013 13:56:51 GMT
Rendezvous at the end of the year to see the new sections...
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Post by lugg on Apr 27, 2013 15:21:59 GMT
I completely missed the October up-date until today. There are many stunning photos in that section , I particularly love the grasses, the snoitcelfer is perfect. I imagine the living wall will be quite spectacular as it matures.
Now to Spring, beautiful cherry trees and daffs. looking forward to seeing more.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 27, 2013 15:54:00 GMT
I imagine the spots in that social housing building will go to households that have signed up years ago; it is in such a beautiful location, and I think there is quite a bit of shopping not far away, whether shopping streets in Paris or some kind of grande surface just outside the Périphérique. A friend, who is a teacher at a collège, has been on the lists for years. Hard to find anything intra-muros, and she doesn't want to move even to la proche banlieue. Our spring had been so late this year (last year, and the year before, it was very early). There are just buds on the big Norway maple tree outside my office window, when last year, the leaves were fully out for May Day. At least the flowering fruit trees give some hope! Edited to add: I found an interactive plan at the project site: www.clichy-batignolles.fr/plan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 18:34:06 GMT
Tweaked by someone else who saw this thread, I can't wait to return when the new zones have been opened Frankly, I think it might be the most interesting park in Paris.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2014 7:00:04 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Mar 29, 2014 16:06:18 GMT
Oh what a tragedy! You would think that the one hand was talking to the other wouldn't you..must have known the line 14 was going to come this way?! My, Paris has oodles of money for these projects...They cant even maintain the grass verges over here!!! Anyway, looking forward to seeing it nearly finished. What about you Mossie?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2014 16:36:15 GMT
Actually, it wasn't until very recently that they made the choice between "Rome" (connection with metro line 2) and "Pont Cardinet" (connection with the Saint Lazare suburban lines) for the next station on the line. Pont Cardinet won because of all of the new offices they are building on the west side of the park.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 12:27:50 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Jan 19, 2016 14:44:53 GMT
I quite upset that I forgot all about this lovely park! I will have to make things right this year.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 21, 2016 12:07:43 GMT
I guess there was nothing to commemorate MLK Day there, after all, it isn't a French holiday, and the park itself commemorates MLK and the Civil Rights movement (as the Rosa Parks transport hub does as well, of course).
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