Gustafson Porter + Bowman is the winner of the Site Tour Eiffel Competition in Paris, a contest designed to reinterpret the landscape to which the Eiffel Tower belongs. This project is divided into two phases to serve as the backdrop for the City of Paris for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

For this project, Gustafson Porter + Bowman proposed the union of two typical typologies of historical landscapes of the country, such as the classic French gardens, and the picturesque gardens of the same city.
The studio of Gustafson Porter + Bowman was selected as the winner on May 21, 2019. The international competition proposed by the city of Paris, sought a design that would allow to discover, interact and offer an environment inclusive and oriented towards the environment.

The project proposes a unifying axis of different Parisian monuments that locate the Eiffel Tower in the center of a line that connects the Place du Trocadéro, the Palais de Chaillot, the Pont d'Iéna, the Field of Mars and the Military School. This proposal represents the vanguard of instituting environmental resilience in an urban context..
 

Description of project by Gustafson Porter + Bowman

Every year 30 million people visit the Eiffel Tower, situated at the heart of Paris. Seven million choose to ascend the monument for soaring views over the city. One of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the site is a victim of its popularity. Fundamental issues like over-crowding, impaired accessibility, lack of services, and congested gardens have impacted the experience of the Eiffel Tower and its surroundings.

"We would like to thank the City of Paris for having run a competition that has been engaging and educative, challenging and rewarding,"

-GP+B responded to the winning announcement


The City of Paris shortlisted Gustafson Porter + Bowman – alongside three other teams from 42 entries – to reimagine the landscape of the Eiffel Tower. This major international competition sought designs that would respond to the brief - discover, approach, visit – and deliver a landscape that aligns with the City’s vision for a resilient, inclusive and environmentally-oriented future. The winning proposal, Gustafson Porter + Bowman’s OnE scheme, envisions one readable landscape that reveals unity, continuity and diversity.
 

"Thanks to an open and ongoing dialogue, the City has played an essential role in stimulating ideas and debate around the proposals for this site. We have never experienced such a resonsive approach to a competition".

GP+B


OnE proposes a unifying axis: celebrating the Eiffel Tower at the centre of a line that connects the Place du Trocadéro, the Palais de Chaillot, the Pont d’Iéna, the Champ de Mars and the Ecole Militaire. Along this central green axis, a series of reimagined landscapes interlock: at the Place du Trocadéro, an amphitheatre of greenery restores space to pedestrians; a new and enlivened public space unfolds from the Varsovie Fountains towards the Pont d’Iéna; the bridge is reincarnated as a green promenade towards the gardens of the Eiffel Tower; the forecourt of the Eiffel Tower caters to the crowds with additional services and facilities discreetly hidden amongst the trees; and the raised lawns of the Champ de Mars protect and elevate the landscape.

OnE also creates spaces of pleasure and contemplation that punctuate the length of the site, and serve to prioritise the human scale. New perspectives are framed and staged, rebalancing the gravitational pull of the Eiffel Tower and activating a sense of arrival throughout. The OnE proposal establishes a coherent and refined hierarchy of uses across the site, improving pedestrian accessibility and city circulation.

OnE thus evokes the union of two historic landscape typologies: classical French gardens, characterized by major axes that express power; and French picturesque gardens, as places of artistic experimentation. In this urban landscape, green routes and gardens reserved for creative pursuits frame and soften the central axis. These “corridors” and “glades” introduce biodiversity, as well as areas for hosting temporary events. such as musical performances and sculpture exhibitions. Thus, OnE compresses into one word the idea and ideal of a unified space.

Lastly, OnE embodies the international character of the site; it connects not only the site from West (Trocadéro) to East (Joffre) – the Ouest-Est / OnE represents the interconnections on this site between the West and East of the world: one humanity, one planet. Therefore, OnE encapsulates a unified environmental approach towards the future. The City of Paris and the OnE proposal represent the vanguard of instituting environmental resilience into an urban context. As part of the city’s showcase for the 2024 Olympic games, the first phase of the redevelopment is to be completed by 2023.

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Architects
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Gustafson Porter + Bowman
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Collaborators
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Architecture.- Chartier-corbasson architects.
Landscape Architecture.- Gustafson Porter + Bowman team.
Heritage Architects.- Atelier monchecourt & Co.
Urban Activation.- SATHY.
Civil Engineering.- MA-GEO.
Legal & Financial Advisor.- ArianeE dienstag SAS.
Mobility.- Devillers & associates.
Structural Engineering.- Bollinger + grohmann.
Lighting Design.- 8´18.
Safety & Security.- Gévolys.
Digital Product Agency.- Area 17.
Furniture, Signage & Wayfinding.- Studio brichet ziegler.
Architectural Programming.- Yris amo.
MEP & Sustainability.- Inex SAS.
Acoustics.- AVEL.
Art, Culture and Event Planning.- Manifesto.
Exhibition Design.- dUCKS SCÉNO.
Geotechnical Engineering.- Semofi.
Soil Ecology.- SOL PAYSAGE.
Traffic Analysis.- CDVIA.
Crowd Modelling.- Movement Stategies.
Urbanist & Sociologist.- Alain Bourdin.
Quantity Surveyor.- VPEAS.
Construction Coordination.-S.C.O.
BIM Management.- BIM services.
Fountain Design.- JML.
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Area
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540,000 m²
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Dates
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2024-2030 (Ending dates)
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Gustafson Porter + Bowman are an award-winning landscape architecture practice based in London. We have a talented team of landscape architects, architects and urban designers led by 5 partners. Our wide-ranging specialisations allow us to engage with a multitude of projects from the urban masterplan scale to bespoke designs. Our design process is always based on a deep understanding of a site; its geographical context and the organisations and cultures that shape them.

We always visit our sites, research their location, history, hydrology, soils, plant communities, local context and site constraints. We will talk to clients, stakeholders and local people about their needs and ambitions. Only once we feel that we have understood these will we start developing a strong conceptual framework that lends meaning and distinctiveness to our landscape work. Throughout our 23-year history, we have sought to continuously push the boundaries of what constitutes the field of landscape design. We care deeply about our work, with strong personal commitments to achieving the best possible outcome for our clients, the environment and the local community. Our strong engagement with local communities and stakeholders, including artists and scientists, adds layers of richness to our work.

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Published on: May 23, 2019
Cite: "Gustafson Porter + Bowman, Winners of the Site Tour Eiffel Competition" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/gustafson-porter-bowman-winners-site-tour-eiffel-competition> ISSN 1139-6415
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