Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled
News: a swimming pool, a theatre and a restaurant are among designs by French studios Oxo Architectes and Laisné Associés to renovate abandoned Metro stations in Paris (+ slideshow).
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_gallery_dezeen_3.jpg)
Manal Rachdi of Oxo Architects and and Nicolas Laisné of Laisné Associés were commissioned by Paris mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet to develop possibilities for renovating the disused spaces into places where Parisians can go to eat, dance, watch a play or even exercise.
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_club_dezeen_6.jpg)
"Why can't Paris take advantage of its underground potential and invent new functions for these abandoned places?" Rachdi asked. "Far from their original purpose, more than a century after the opening of Paris' underground network, these places could show they're still able to offer new urban experiments"
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_swimming-pool_dezeen_1.jpg)
These designs illustrate how Arsenal station, a disused stop near the Bastille that was closed in 1939 at the start of the Second World War and never reopened, could potentially be transformed into a swimming pool, theatre and concert hall, nightclub, art gallery or even refectory-style restaurant.
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_garden_dezeen_5a.jpg)
"To swim in the metro seems like a crazy dream, but it could soon come true," said Rachdi. "Turning a former Metro station into a swimming-pool or a gymnasium could be a way to compensate for the lack of sports and leisure facilities in some areas."
Another solution included an underground park, which would require a series of skylights to be built into the station's roof to provide natural light.
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_theatre_dezeen_4.jpg)
The plans have been criticised for their huge cost and the safety issues involved in converting stations that still have live electricity running through them. Jean-Michel Leblanc, of France's state-owned public transportation operator RATP told Le Parisien that it would be extremely difficult to make these stations safe for public use.
If Kosciusko-Morizet wins the election on March 30 this year, she plans on crowdsourcing other ideas for repurposing Paris's abandoned stations.
![Plans to convert disused Paris Metro stations into swimming pools and galleries unveiled](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/02/Paris-Metro-Station-Conversions_restaurant_dezeen_2.jpg)
There are 16 disused Metro stations in Paris, most of which closed between 1930-1970. A small number were also built but never opened. Previously the stations have been used as temporary sets for advertising campaigns and films. Porte-des-Lilas, a disused station closed in 1935, was used as a backdrop in 2001 film Amélie.