Art along the tramway (by kerouac2)

[Deleted]

The government (being a mixture of the national and regional governments as well as the city of Paris) spent about 900 millions euros on the extension of tramway line T3 over the last several years. This includes 150 million for spiffing up the areas that the tramway goes through -- new sidewalks, trees, benches...

And they also had a budget of 11.2 million euros for artworks along the line. Here is how they spent the money.

In my own neighbourhood, the vehicles and animals of a fun fair have gone flying away, with their coloured lights still twinkling.













Meanwhile all of the tram stations have strange little messages etched into them.



At the end of Avenue de France in the 13th, boulders have floated away.







There is a little presentation of the MacVal modern art museum in the suburbs here.



At Porte de Montreuil are African-inspired water fountains.













At Porte de Bagnolet, a light pole has gone completely wild.





Under the périphérique at Porte de Pantin, ants and other things go about their business.









A sports field nearby was provided with a very fancy metal fence.









It even has some built in benches.





At Porte de la Villette, things are topsy turvy.









Art money was also put into a fancy barrier to keep people off the rails.

That's all for now, but I'll find more.

[Deleted]

[tod2]

Well well - that was a surprise! All those funky lights, fanciful arty fences and railings and what a modern idea they've put in to stop pedestrians walking across the tram track.

I was looking forward so much to spending a few weeks in Paris during late September/October but with building operations going on here at home and the worry of my mother - I don't see it happening this year. Things may change so I live in hope of riding the T3!

[mossie]

Some fairly crazy stuff there Kerouac. I suppose it is to the modern taste, but it doesn't inspire me.

Public bodies can still find exotic ways to spend their taxpayers money, I thought we were all going broke and that Germany will be grabbing handfuls of our cash any day now. Perhaps the thought is "let's spend it before the crunch comes".

[nycgirl]

I really like the pieces that are both fun and functional, like the water fountains and the rail barriers.