Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet and her team recently unveiled sketches for a series of projects that would reclaim the City of Light’s abandoned Metro stations. There are many different proposals for transforming those unused underground spaces including restaurants, auditoriums, art galleries, theaters and nightclubs.
While some of the ghost stations were closed down due to a lack of passenger use, others never even saw a single traveler on their platforms after planning was scrapped and access from the streets above was never even built.
There are eight “phantom” metro stops in Paris that would be suitable for revival, including Champ de Mars, Arsenal, Porte Molitor, Haxo, Croix Rouge, Porte des Lilas, Saint Martin et Martin Nadaudso. The ambitious mayoral candidate Nathalie Koziuscot-Morizet has also put forward plans for reviving the Little Belt (Petite Ceinture), the inner city railway, abandoned since 1934.
Participating architects Manal Rachdi and Nicolas Laisné are only getting started however, and these are just a few examples from their vault of ideas should Nathalie win the elections in March.
Richelle Sibolboro 