Asphat jungle - paris

photos : Yann Monel

Asphalt Jungle is a prototype project exploring the de-sealing and fertilisation of urban soils through in situ recycling. Developed as part of the FAIRE project accelerator at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, it addresses the challenge of reintroducing living soils into the dense Parisian faubourg fabric, without exporting waste and while minimising the import of new soil.

Implemented in partnership with the social housing provider Élogie-Siemp, the project is located in a highly mineral courtyard of a residential building on rue Carrière-Mainguet, in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Intensively used by residents, the courtyard represents a sensitive testing ground where questions of acceptance are central: how can reused asphalt slabs be transformed into an aesthetic and welcoming neighbourhood garden?

The intervention is based on the precise cutting of the asphalt according to the garden’s layout — here a surface of 18 m² — combined with the decompaction of the underlying layers. Existing materials are sorted, recombined and mixed to recreate a fertile “neo-soil”, or technosol, composed of reconstructed horizons capable of supporting plant growth. Surplus asphalt slabs are carefully set on edge to form a refined border, while others are reused as mulch within the planting areas, quickly covered by vegetation.

This first experiment demonstrates the potential to adapt this soil fertilisation strategy to a wide range of urban contexts and scales. It highlights the possibility of de-sealing the city in all its interstices, while combating urban heat islands and reintroducing living soils at the heart of Parisian courtyards.

FAIRE, accélérateur de projets urbains faire, accélérateur de projets urbains innovants lancé par le pavillon de l'arsenal innovants lancé par le Pavillon de l'arsenal avec la ville de paris, la caisse des depôts, mini et edf

Partenariat Elogie-Siemp