With more than 700,000 visitors every day, the Gare du Nord in Paris is the biggest train station in Europe. In addition to work to upgrade the station, beginning in 2014 and due to be completed in 2019, a vast project to transform and expand the space is planned ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.

In response, Manifesto devised an artistic project focused on travel, story-telling and literature, and put together a team of partners (based locally, in Paris and internationally), each of whom contributed ideas for this ambitious project: the Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse, the Médiathèque Françoise Sagan, PEN International, Hachette Book Group, Média Participations and its subsidiary Dargaud, Ferraille Productions and the local charity La Maison du Canal.

Our proposals for this project included: resident accommodation for refugee writers and a “Gare du Nord Prize for Freedom of Expression”; a biennial festival held throughout the station; the creation of a comic book character to “embody” the Gare du Nord; establishing a tourist guide/platform on artistic and cultural activities in Paris and more. A wide range of inclusive activities and initiatives for the Gare du Nord of the future.