Le Paris de l'Hospitalité

An international art and architecture competition with formerly homeless people was held to create a mobile shelter within the Paris city limits, in support of initiatives led by the association Les Enfants du Canal.

In 2013, Les Enfants du Canal and the PEROU association for urban resources exploration launched an international request for proposals that necessarily would bring about substantive change. We asserted that the greatness of Paris would come from active civic participation and its grandeur from an ability to do a thousand deeds of hospitality for the some 15,000 homeless people live in the city proper. The goal was to make hospitality a fundamental value, in response to an international consultation initiated by then President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, which sought to promote actions on a larger scale.

Beginning in May 2013, 10 design workshops were held with formerly homeless people and members of Les Enfants du Canal. An urban study was conducted in the south of Paris from June to September 2013 to inventory and analyse plots of land that were temporarily vacant. In March 2014, a display campaign was carried out in conjunction with the municipal elections. In June 2014, a call for projects and a specification were published on a website, which included text, images and videos. In September 2014, about 50 proposals were received from artists, architects, urban planners, sociologists, economists, etc. In October 2015, a panel of judges was formed; half the members were formerly homeless. In November 2015, the 10 winning projects were presented to an audience of 500 at Pavillion de l’Arsenal, along with a demonstration of their social, political and architectural innovations. Today, the wait continues for the public authorities to finally address the initiative and take action.