Semapa, an urban development company, of the Paris Rive Gauche area, in Paris’ 13th arrondissement, is calling for art projects from international applicants. Open to all forms of creation, the work of art will be located nearby the François Mitterrand National Library, on a public site currently under construction.
The project should draw on the specificities of its surroundings and contribute to both the attractiveness and the centrality of this blooming urban area.
Candidates must complete and send their application before Monday, March 5th 2012.
Context
Paris Rive Gauche is a vast urban planning project set up by the Paris City Board. Over the last few years this former industrial area, bordered on one side by the River Seine and on the other by the dense network of railroads that converge to the Austerlitz Train Station, has rapidly developed into a lively neighbourhood where housing estates and office buildings stand side by side with universities, schools, shops, public infrastructures, and parks. By covering up sections of the railroads, this urban project intends to create an urban continuity not only on the inner-city scale but also by reaching out to its neighbouring suburbs.
Geographical situation
A public site, mostly planned above the aforementioned railroads, is in development nearby the François Mitterrand National Library where it will link the 13th arrondissement to its South with the River Seine to its North. Bordered on one side by a building designed by the architect Rudy Ricciotti which will contain apartments, offices, and shops, and on the other by a housing project due in 2017, this public site will host a building in the style of a French “ guinguette ”/cultural area which will contribute to turning it into an animated pole of city-life.
Aims of the artistic project
Drawing on the specificities and the evolution of its surroundings, the work of art which is open to all forms of creation will contribute to enhance and assert the attractivity and the centrality of the site as a bridge between two parts of the city and, on a larger scale, of this blooming area. It will also create a relationship between several public sites, which have already proven themselves favourable to the development of economic, cultural, and social activities.
The completion of the work of art is scheduled for the final quarter of 2013.
Selection criteria
The provisional budget, including fees and production costs, amounts to 600.000 euros, excluding taxes.
The selection will take place in two steps.
The first part will be open to all applications; the second will be a planning phase open to a maximum of five artists whose projects will have been preselected following the application phase. Each of these artists will have until the final trimester of 2012 to produce sketches on the basis of the contract specifications. Each of these proposals will be compensated in the amount of 15.000 euros, including taxes.
Information : www.semapa.fr
