Forgotten Futures

Nestled in the heart of Noisy-Le-Grand, Fort de Villiers sits still, dormant yet egger for explorers to scale its walls. Hidden alongside the Fort, in a mass of foliage sits interwoven courtyards, sunken architectural ruins and mighty boulevards which intersect them. Only the brave dare explore all aspects of this forgotten future, like the nearby dystopian utopias of Ricardo Bofill and Manuel Núñez Yanowsky, the architecture speaks of its introvertedness, yet, up close it gives us a glimpse of its own emphatic personality - it is in conversation with each but only a whisper. Ultimately it depicts an architecture which may think about its own personality, each individualised object - unique to its programme, location, possible inhibition and its possibility for its own reinterpretation. The architecture itself celebrates Paris and the unique qualities that have derived its urbanism, from the aforementioned utopian projects and embraces the once dreaded boulevards in which Paris is widely known for. The site fragmentation derives from this analysis of Paris and Noisy Le Grand, small architectural objects encourage exploration, the intentionality of fragmented lends itself to people traversing between objects and their probability of finding something new as they go from A to B. Community is key, and the development of this community can make or break a whole neighbourhood, the architectural project it thus used to engender a real sense of community