Place des Fêtes

Social lighting research in the Place des Fetes was commissioned by the Mairie de Paris, and designed as a series of intensive investigations to identify the diverse stakeholders of Place des Fetes and the different ways they engaged with it. This provided the basis for wide-ranging design recommendations for lighting and activating the site after dark, and to feed social research iteratively into renovation programmes for this and 14 other Parisian public spaces. Configuring light carried out extensive interviews, observation and photo-documentation in July 2017, followed by week-long research and design workshop and community engagement event in October 2017 as part of its Social Lightscapes programme. Findings were integrated into city design work through reports, presentations and meetings with city architects and lighting professionals from July 2017 through February 2018.

Following the investigations and interviews on site distinct themes began to emerge which were not previously apparent to the design team or the municipality. The most critical was the spatial breakdown of the square: lighting and architectural planners approached Places des Fetes as if it were a traditional public square with a central space as a focus. In fact, designing lighting and other features in this way would potentially undermine the ways in which actual stakeholders of different ages, ethnicities and circumstances informally ‘zoned’ the square to support their activities and make it function efficiently for their different purposes.

The resulting recommendations and plans sought to connect public realm design and place making to the unique social dynamics of this site, supporting existing uses where appropriate and managing conflicting uses where necessary.