An ambitious project is underway in the 3rd arrondissement in Paris. A cluster of store fronts were recently purchased by Cedric Naudon, a low key millionaire banker with an affinity for design and taste. He is rebuilding a neighborhood and has recruited some of the worlds most renown designers to help him. The project titled ‘La Jeune Rue’ will center around three narrow streets, in the northern part of Le Marais. The 18th century facades will not be altered while the interiors will be completely redone. A grocery and fishmonger designed by Tom Dixon, a tapas bar by Jasper Morrison, a cocktail bar by Ingo Maurer, a bistro by the Campana Brothers, a theater by Andrea Branzi, and many others. When completed there will be a total of 25 different shops for this new neighborhood. The project is already underway with the first shops set to open in spring followed by more in the fall. (via design boom and Blouin Artinfo)

Is London looking to New York for examples in city development? Private and public plans suggests that it is. Last year the city announced that it would have its own High Line just south of River Thames. Last month a proposal for an elevated bike path above railway lines by Foster Partners was publicized. And more recently a concept for a public pool in the River Thames was explored. All of this may be traced back to Michael Bloomberg’s influence on London. The New York Times wrote a piece last February on Bloomberg’s financial investment into the city and the friendship he’s developed with the cultural elite and politicians including the mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Now that Bloomberg has left his post in New York, it appears that he has set his sights on London.