How biodiversity and sustainability are taken into account in the Olympic Village
The Olympic Village of the Paris Games is located along the Seine, in Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine. It was inaugurated on 29 February 2024 by SOLIDEO, the state organisation in charge of the development work for the organisation of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. During the Games, 14,500 athletes and their staff will be accommodated in this 52-hectare urban landscape. The focus was on sustainability: The Olympic Village will be converted into public facilities, housing and commercial space after the Games.
The project balances the needs of the athletes with the protection of nature and the environment. The lighting concept pays particular attention to the protection of nocturnal biodiversity by creating a grid of dark corridors that provide an unlit habitat for numerous nocturnal animals. The luminaires and support systems were specially selected and developed to connect the urban public space with the vegetation and nature.
The projected ‘Athletes’ Footprints’ commemorate the Olympic legacy
To the north of the Olympic Village lies Place Ampère, the ‘Ampère Square’, where the ‘Athletes‘ Footprints’ are projected in memory of the 2024 Games and the history of this location. With forty PHOS pole mount projection systems from Derksen, the imaginary footprints of various sports, such as running, gymnastics, rugby, handball and surfing, are projected onto the ground when darkness falls. Place Ampère thus becomes a meaningful place and a living testimony to the Olympic heritage. This original and contemporary concept was developed by the agencies Concepto and Studio 5.5.
Lighting design:Concepto
Sara Castagné & Maëlle Tertrais
