BIG . + EuropaCity
Chinese powerhouse Dalian Wanda Group is set to invest over $3.3 billion in EuropaCity, a retail and leisure project to be built on the outskirts of Paris by 2024. Conceived as Europe’s biggest leisure, culture, retail and entertainment “village,” the 80-acre EuropaCity is expected to attract 31 million visits every year.
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How to combine a dense city with an open landscape ?
Europa City will offer, on an unprecedented scale, a mix of retail, culture and leisure around a defining theme: Europe, its diversity, its urban experiences and its cultures. Rather than orienting Europa City towards the highway, we propose to integrate it as the natural center of a new business district. We propose an urban form that combines dense city with open landscape, exploring the urban and green potentials of the site at once. We propose a commercial city that becomes a gathering point for the surrounding neighborhoods– a new kind of commercial center that is blended into the urban texture, and includes rather than excludes the surrounding city.
The programs of Europa City are organized along an internal boulevard with a mix of retail, entertainment and cultural programs on both sides. The boulevard forms a continuous loop travelling through the new neighborhood.
Along the boulevard, public bicycles and electric public transport bring visitors quickly around. The circular street creates at the same time surprising spatial experiences and a clear overview – It allows you to get lost, and still find your way.
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COLLABORATORS: Base Transsolar Tess Transitec Client MOA EuropaCity Landscape BASE Acoustics Lamoureux Acoustics Technical Services SETEC Cost Engineering Bureau Michel Forgue Renderings Squint Opera Copyright Renderings EuropaCity
