About a dozen of Paris Métro stations are inactive. Some of them were closed during World War II to save money and have been lying dormant ever since. Just two of the closed stations are used, for film shoots and to shelter the homeless.
But in the final stages of the race for the next mayor of Paris, candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has piqued the public imagination—and conquered a few hearts and minds—by offering a vision of some proposed future uses for the ghost stations, including a theater, an art gallery, a swimming pool, a nightclub, and a restaurant.
Paris transport officials note that it would take a lot of money and structural work to make the abandoned spaces sound enough to be used as public gathering spots.
Should Kosciusko-Morizet win the election, she has said she will invite Parisians to offer their input on the eventual possible uses of the abandoned metro stations, but these renderings by architects Manal Rachdi and Nicolas Laisné give a glimpse of the underground possibilities.