Car(e)less City

Carbon based transportation systems, from the beginning of the industrial revolution, were and still remain the spine of our societies. Connecting everything and everyone, they brought dramatic changes in the way we conceive life and exchanges, shaping the globalised world as we know it now. After several centuries of ignorance and carelessness, we’re now endangered by our own lifestyle, threatening the planet itself and its whole biosphere.

According to l'Agence française de sécurité sanitaire environnementale (French Environment Agency), atmospheric pollution, caused for about a third by cars’ carbon dioxide emissions, provokes the death of between 6500 to 9500 people each year in France.

Through this project, I questioned the structure of the City as we know it by heart. Would we ban motor vehicles the next day, how could we try to hide those hideous and now useless concrete scars and let a little bit of nature back inside ?

I imagined roads turned into delimited nature showcases. Planted with grass, cereals, or even filled with water, they emphasize the monstrosity of their grey surroundings and artifacts. Being visual nonsenses, they can help one realize to what extent we chased nature out of our cities, and how it eventually takes its rights back.

This project was expressly designed for « CLIMATE CHANGE, A CLIMATE FOR CHANGE? ». As a human being, i’ve always been particularly concerned by environmental issues. As an artist, i find it crucial to consider climate change in more ethical ways, rather than just economical concerns. As a visual artist, I know that to some extent, « seeing is believing ». I hope this project could help one believe that change is still on our reach.