MAKING TRACKS

The Grand Paris Express, Europe's largest urban design project, is en route to success

- AMY SERAFIN

As the Paris Olympic Games draw near, the city sees another significant project advance closer to the finish line. The Grand Paris Express, the largest urban design project in Europe, is a system of new rapid transit lines that will allow commuters to go from one suburb to another without passing through the city centre.

Construction began in 2016 and is slated to finish in 2030, when the system will consist of four new lines and one extension, 68 new stations, and 200km of additional track, at an estimated cost of €36.1 billion. Great care has been taken to make the project not just practical and sustainable, but attractive, too. The stations are all unique, designed by different architects, each working in tandem with a different artist.

The Line 14 extension is scheduled to be running in time for the Games, connecting Saint-Denis in the north to Orly Airport in the south. Its terminus, and the entire network’s hub, is the Saint-Denis Pleyel station, located steps from the Olympic Village. Architect Kengo Kuma designed the station with wood cladding and plenty of natural light, bringing warmth to its immensity, while 108 clay Venuses by French artist Prune Nourry will hang on its atrium walls, starting in 2026.