Location: Paris, France
Developer: APSYS
Designer: Valode & Pistre Architects

Following a period of successful operations and then decline, the existing Beaugrenelle shopping center was demolished to create a new-generation venue by making the most of the former raised slab—a significant constraint from the 1970s utopian style of architecture. Located a stone’s throw away from the Eiffel Tower, in the “Front de Seine” district, and a legacy of the urban utopias of the 1960s, the new Beaugrenelle is the innovative result of an overarching approach to urban design, commercial architecture, and the environment.

At its core, Beaugrenelle is an urban project that seeks to redefine urban life by proposing a new kind of shopping area for the city. Residents can once more claim the neighborhood as their own. With architectural openness as the development’s main focus, the project seeks to increase its connectivity to its surrounding community, ameliorating its design in a search for more friendliness, continuity and fluidity in urban life, and a high level of environmental performance. The ambition for this project is to reconcile culture, commerce, and city, moving beyond retail to provide a social and cultural place to live and enjoy.