regenerating perceptions the life story of l’arlequin
marie-stella livrieri master architecture academie van bouwkunst
regenerating perceptions the life story of l’arlequin
marie-stella livrieri marielivrieri@gmail.com paul kuipers jolijn valk tess broekmans
master architecture academie van bouwkunst october 2024
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preface
Growing up, I’ve always been intrigued by the dichotomy between what people are and what others perceive. What defines our identity for ourselves and what others define us with, in their own mind. I believe what can be applied to human beings can be applied to other things, objects, places, architecture. For all the elements around us, we build an identity in our heads. We define them the way we perceive them. But perceptions are subjective. The neighborhood of La Villeneuve and the building of l’Arlequin have been one of those things that people define in their heads, without necessarily knowing what is behind. A scary place where no one dares to go but feels entitled to put a judgement upon. From age 11 to 18, I have been in schools where people from very different backgrounds would study. Middle class kids like myself, upper class kids, living in big houses on the outskirts of the city, and working class kids, living in the well known neighborhood of La Villeneuve. ‘‘Where bad things happen’’, some would say. The reputation of this neighborhood has always triggered me. It has always felt bigger than the place itself. How can a space reach such a reputation? In 2012, it seemed to have taken a bigger turn when two boys were killed in the neighborhood after a disagreement. The entire city was shocked, and my school was grieving. At that time, if I didn’t know anyone from this neighborhood, it would have just been another tragic story you read in the paper, in which they depict the most tragic image they can, to make the most juicy story. And the image depicted in the media was just that : a highly dangerous ghetto where you should never go. But what bothered me was that i knew kids from there, we were friends, we spent days together and we were getting the same education. We were just not going home to the same place. So I got curious again, and decided to investigate. To understand, unravel and dream about healing the space and the perceptions. And I discovered so much more than what I could have expected. 21 the life story of l’arlequin
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table of content
the life story of l’arlequin
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prologue
27
act 1 - anatomy of an edifice
55
act 2 - now we talk
133
act 3 - in the surgery room
155
epilogue
209
thank you
217
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the life story of l’arlequin a play in 3 acts
regenerating perceptions is about looking at buildings in a different way and adopting a feminist approach to engage with space. It is about telling stories and building new ones. It is about the life story of l’Arlequin. Grenoble, 1970s. The Arlequin is born. A new ideal building in a new attractive neighborhood, new people moving in and new stories beginning. Fifty years later, where is the story at? And what is coming next? The project investigates how to undertake this building and how to work together with its community in order to heal the architecture, change the perceptions and make space for new stories. In a time where we consume architecture and tear it down when its value does not seem to be high enough anymore, regenerating perceptions proposes an approach of preservation and care. The story is told in the form of a play, relating the story of l’Arlequin as a living element and the story of my (re)discovery of this building. When telling this story, I hope to take you along with me and encourage you to make your own, taking home with you what caught your eye, to regenerate the perception of l’Arlequin, in Grenoble and beyond.
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the life story of l’arlequin a play in 3 acts
prologue
act 1 - anatomy of an edifice scene 1 - capturing scene 2 - playing scene 3 - reproducing
act 2 - now we talk scene 1 - walk & talk scene 2 - workshop ‘your routines’ scene 3 - workshop ‘look closer’
act 3 - in the surgery room scene 1 - connecting tool scene 2 - programmatic tool scene 3 - inviting tool
epilogue
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prologue
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buildings are living elements part of our
urban
ecosystem
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buildings as living element a poetic approach
Buildings are living elements part of our urban ecosystem. They have a beginning, an end and everything in between. Like our bodies they are being used until they cannot support the weight of life anymore, until their structure falls apart. Or until we decide they are not good enough, or not needed. Just like animals, plants and microorganisms, they shape the environment. They constantly interact with their surroundings and with the other living parts of the ecosystem. Buildings breath, live, age, have schedules, evolve. They follow trends and fashion. They are made of what makes our lands. They are inhabited and they inhabit a bigger space than themselves.
our landmarks and our homes, our streets and our squares. We use them daily and they make the backgrounds of our lives. In our era, most of the things that human beings do happen in buildings or in between them. We are born, grow up, learn, work, love, build our lives in buildings. It all goes back to it. But still, we seem to be giving ourselves the right to treat them as simple piles of material. When talking about buildings, or projects, we are actually telling and building stories. We are relating to the past and are building spaces for more stories to happen in the future. Buildings are protagonists in stories, and architecture is about building new stories.
We are fully dependent on buildings, we rely on the shelters they provide us with, the culture they highlight and the learning environments they shape for us. They make
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process
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design
process & design designing a process
regenerating perceptions is at the crossing between process and design. It aims to design a process and an approach to buildings and to process a design. It asks the question of what role design plays in existing buildings in spatial, economic and social contexts. In the process, design is seen as a tool to build communities, and communities as a tool for design. The reciprocity is important to make the process relevant and to empower the people. It is an approach that looks at buildings as living elements of our ecosystem, and therefore aims to preserve endangered species : regeneration against demolition. Through the design, the goal is to (re) connect the space to its environment and to the urban fabric while answering social challenges and improving the living quality. All of that coming together and making careful steps not to fall into gentrification.
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grenoble
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saintmartind’hères
grenoble
vvo eybens echirolles
Grenoble, France. A city in the heart of a valley in the Alps, surrounded by mountains and beautiful landscapes. Grenoble and its surroundings count approximately 450 000 inhabitants and is the main city of the area. The segregation in the population is quite strong in the city, with very rich areas and very poor areas. What is striking is the
proximity between the two. The focus is on the neighborhood of the Villeneuve-Village Olympique (translating to New TownOlympic Village). Located in the middle of the valley but in the southern border of Grenoble, it has a surface of approximately 56ha.
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grenoble
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villeneuve - vill
residential
ring
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grenoble city center residential
lage olympique
shopping center
congress hall
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urban planning
it all started with the Olympics
Built for the Winter Olympics of 1968, the olympic village symbolized the apotheosis of Grenoble. A renewal of the entire city and the construction of a new neighborhood for the future, the newly given visibility attracted many people to the city. The architect of the olympic village, Maurice Novarina left a legacy.
village olympique 1968
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village olympique 1968
arlequin 1973 balladins 1978
Because lots of housing was needed at the time, the plan, from the first steps of the design of the olympic village, was to extend the neighborhood with five other districts. In the end, only two were added, the Arlequin and the Balladins, both reflecting very distinct and landmark architecture, especially with the building of the Arlequin designed by the architects of AUA, at the time the longest building in Europe, hosting more than 2000 dwellings and planned to welcome almost 10 000 people. The Villeneuve, gathering the three districts, is a city in the city.
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1970s
the birth of l’arlequin
After the olympic games, Grenoble is at its peak. The Arlequin is built and people start moving in, coming from different cities to live in this new ideal ensemble. The new school system integrated in the building attracts middle classes who want to be part of this new movement. Social mixity is working and a community is being formed in the neighborhood. The gallery, an inside street, is filled with commercial spaces and facilities for the neighborhood, a city in the city. The high flexibility of spaces promises a bright future for the building and the newly built community.
1980s
the early years of l’arlequin
Political changes in Grenoble lead to the abandonment of the New School movement system for budgetary reasons, causing some middle classes to leave the building and to be replaced by people coming from the migration waves at that period. The building being composed at 75% of social housing, it is highly dependent on housing corporations, which, like the municipality of Grenoble, invest less and less in this neighborhood where many newcomers are placed and left alone. The lack of maintenance of the space leads to less and less care for the area and starts causing wrong to the reputation of the neighborhood.
2000s
the illnesses of l’arlequin
The safety issues are now making the reputation of the building, violence and trafficking are the only topics you read in the news and the social challenges have highly increased. Social diversity is very low and people feel abandoned. The neighborhood is cut out from its urban fabric and from the rest of the city : a ghetto in the city. Children and youth are a big issue, when many drop out and struggle to stay in the school system. Political ambitions aim to transform the area but at the price of demolishing its body and its community.
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LIVI LIVI LIVI LIVI LIVI LIVI LIVI LIVI
CITY
OP GALL 44 regenerating perceptions
ING ING ING ING ING ING ING ING
PARK
PEN LERY 45 the life story of l’arlequin
against demolition
regeneration
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regeneration what and why
Just like many inventions humankind put on this earth, megastructures such as l’Arlequin are one that we lost control over. We keep building them, creating new Frankenstein and anchor them to the ground, but we cannot deal with the ones from our past. And it seems like the only answer we found for them is to put them to the ground, erase them from the surface just as easily as we build them. Because we say : ‘‘we didn’t know at the time, but we shouldn’t have done it like that, look, it brought so much social issues. Now we will do better, after we build another one of these megastructures.’’ It seems to me that we are choosing the easy way out, saying we couldn’t have known at the time and swiping the ‘mistake’ under the rug. Another reason we don’t seem to care so much about preserving these structures is probably due to the population living in these buildings, mostly a population marginalized, discriminated against and treated as less important than the rest, the working class. And I will be talking more specifically about France now (because that is the social context I studied here and the context of this project), but the widely spread racism also
plays a very important role in the decision making around these ‘grands ensemble’ because they often host populations not only from the working class but also coming from a migration background (and background is here important, nowadays we are talking about second or third generation migrants, therefore french people, but still too often treated as if they were not). So if most times, demolition is the prefered solution, the same Haussmann redesigned Paris 200 years ago, opting for a Tabula Rasa approach and simply cutting through buildings, it happens that these spaces are renovated or transformed. In any case, it is always large-scale transformations, demolitions or renovations that end up erasing the cultural heritage of these buildings and the identity of its people. In our time and context, this cannot be taken as a solution. In this project, I am investigating how to undertake these ‘grands ensembles’ with a Tabula Scripta approach, and even looking further at how the existing solutions can be brought to the table and healed. A body that regenerates itself.
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surgical architecture
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observation Just like plants, living beings, and any element of nature, buildings are part of our ecosystem. They are made of matter and become hosts for biotopes and communities.
The building of l’Arlequin is an organism brought to life by the people it hosts. Architecture and people influence and support each other in symbiosis.
The dissection of the building is essential to understand how the organism works. It allows us to understand the routine, the system and the roles of microorganisms in the body.
L’Arlequin is in pain, and so are its people.
Approaching buildings as living beings does not only change the perspective on how we treat our built environment but it also gives the opportunity to understand new species, in need of healing.
With surgical architecture, the built space is treated like a living organism. Illnesses are identified and carefully treated by precise interventions. Against demolition stands regeneration.
dissection
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the feminist approach inclusivity & sensibility
In my training to become an architect, I have been interested in how we perceive and approach buildings. And how the field works. But I have sometimes found myself in disagreement with how we approach projects. In my opinion, a lack of inclusivity both in the workfield and in the designs is still there. But how to be more inclusive? In the previous year, I undertook research about feminism in architecture. It started with a questioning of the place of women in architecture in the past and nowadays, but I also researched the impact architecture and design have on women. Dimensions of space, standards, urban design, architecture, etc. Then I broaden the spectrum. Not only women, but all marginalized groups. My feminisim is about being inclusive, and being inclusive is about taking all into consideration. It means making space for everyone.
Inclusivity is necessary to design sustainable and relevant spaces. With the feminist approach I am talking about an inclusive and sensible approach in which buildings are not necessarily rationalized. An approach in which feelings matter, and in which the spectrum of research is not limited to the ‘standard human being’. To reach that goal of inclusivity, it seems to me that collaboration is essential. In the field and with the users. Learning from each other to design better, give a voice to the users to ensure better choices. The feminist approach is the combination of the vision of the architect with the inputs of the collaboration, in a process that goes hand in hand at the same rhythm along the project.
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Xvision
collaboration
1formulate intentions
ection 3 refl & vision
& 2 inform be informed
6
& 4 involvement collaboration
ection 5 refl & refinement
present the outcome
diversity of methods desk research
fieldwork
participation
writing
mapping
books
photography documentaries & movies
archives
workshops
questionnaires
interviews & discussions
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act
1
anatomy of an edifice
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act 1
anatomy of an edifice
In the first act of the life story of l’Arlequin, I would like to take you on the adventure of the discovery of this building. It translates my own experience of it, the way I saw it first and the way I see it now. It is about looking at the building, dissecting it, to understand its functioning and find its hidden gems. Everyone who lives in Grenoble knows about the neighborhood of La Villeneuve and about the building of l’Arlequin. But what everyone knows about it is mostly hearsay, what the media show of tragic stories and the reputation of an unsafe place. In 50 years, the neighborhood has switched from attractive utopia to unmaintained ghetto. No one wants to go there and everyone has prejudices. My curiosity about this building has only been reinforced by that. And in this first act, the challenge was to approach the building without prejudice. Trying to look at it with the fresh eye of a wanderer who would have gotten lost in the area.
Through the scenes, I am trying to translate the discovery of the building in the different steps I went through. First, looking and capturing. Then looking again. Looking at everything together, and looking in details. Zoom in, zoom out. Seeing details I had not seen before. After some time, the building is more familiar, and it feels more comfortable. I can start playing with it, and retranscripting it, to see it from a different eye and get rid of the reputation that taints this building in too many eyes.
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scene
1
capturing
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scene 1 capturing
Taking pictures, collecting, organizing, sorting, looking again, printing, grouping, hanging on the wall, looking close, looking far, looking close again. Pictures are a means to reactivate memory and to communicate what you saw. The way it is framed, the angle it is taken from, the format, it all translates a feeling that was there when the picture was taken, sometimes a feeling one is unaware of. Looking again at photos with a rested mind allows one to see things that one could not see at the moment. Photography is a way to translate and highlight architecture. Looking at photos of others is a way to get in their eyes, and see what they can see. I found a lot of beauty in this building, in the details but also in the ensemble. I find it rich and generous, I find it charming and provocative. But from what I heard of everyone around me, it is a grey, ugly and dirty building. This first scene retraces my first steps in the building, my first looks and my first discoveries.
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scene
2
playing
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scene 2 playing
After looking at the pictures, take time to play. Copy, paste, cut, glue, scan, change colors, distort, mirror. Use the building to create images, making a new vision around it. L’Arlequin as a base for art. New images emerge : this is what we can do with it. These aim to create a wish to frame the building. And to look at it again. Playing with the images allows to look at the building differently, for the designer and for the users. By making intuitive choices some element emerge, and by making counscious choices some elements are highlighted.
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scene
3
reproducing
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scene 3
reproducing
After looking, looking again and playing with the elements of the building, reproducing them in drawings pushed me to look even more precisely, and to highlight the parts and details that seemed important to my eye. It gives a new understanding of the space drawn, especially to the daily users. They invite us to look at the space without the prejudice of reality and to appreciate details of the elements that disappear in the immensity of the building. What seems to be a repetitive and monotonous building at first sight turns out to be filled with special details.
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act
2
now we talk
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act 2
now we talk
In my definition of the feminist approach to architecture, collaboration is a key part. Talking to the people seems to be the greatest way to understand the inner functioning of a space, especially when working on an existing building or neighborhood, It is also a way to use architecture and design to empower communities and encourage them to take care of their environment. It seems to me that collaboration in the design process is the way to achieve social sustainability in architecture. If people are involved, they feel a certain ownership and empowerment that encourages them to maintain their living environment. But it also ensures that the vision of the architect is in some way related to the reality of things. The role of the architect in the collaboration is as the translator of these talks. Alongside, the architect develops its own vision based on research and knowledge. The more information is gathered in the collaboration, the more precise and relevant a design can be. Developing a vision, translating collaboration and combining the two is, in essence, the role of the architect, in my opinion.
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scene
1
walk & talk
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walk & talk
spontaneous discussions, interviews & questionnaires
The walks and talks were a way to step into the project combining my own experience of the place and the experience of its residents. The first walks took me everywhere around the Villeneuve, from the Olympic Village to the Balladins and through the Arlequin. I wanted to explore the context as a whole and find out what elements could be key in the regeneration of this neighborhood. Rapidly, my walks, and other talks, led me to think that the Arlequin is a central element in the entire neighborhood. The one that impacts everything around, by its reputation but also by its architecture. An impressive megastructure dropped in the middle of the urban fabric. But that feeling of mine was quickly confirmed by all the people I talked to. Spontaneously in the streets of La Villeneuve, around me among family and friends, through questionnaires, reaching further than my own circle and during interviews with experts from the field.
Talking to people in an informal context has allowed me to get an understanding of their feelings and the rhythm of their daily lives in this neighborhood. It also allowed me to create a first bond with these people, to set up a more comfortable connection, making the later discussion in a more ‘formal’ context of the workshop easier. Being so often on site gave me the chance to feel more comfortable there and to experience the space deeper, to gain the trust of people and to create a relationship that makes them understand that they have legitimacy in participation and that their experiences and voices matter.
link to the video ‘daily arlequin’
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Being present on site was a key element in the project, not only to understand the physical building better and experience it in different settings, but also to understand its dynamics and get to know its community. Along the process, I have been on site on seven different occasions through the year, going to the building several times at each visit. This allowed me to deeply explore the neighborhood, and in the beginning, to define focus points and find out elements that would become key later in the project. Going there so many times has also been a way to create a bond with the community, to get known there, which allowed me to discover inside information and to talk with many residents.
In my first walks, I was following the paths, trying to stay on ‘safe routes’. But the more I went there and the more I felt comfortable to explore. I found out that people were eager to open up and talk about their daily life in this neighborhood. And looking back at all the research and material I accumulated through the months, and reading all the discussions I had and the notes I took, there is one thing that stands out : people feel abandoned there. They all tell me about the beautiful past with lots of nostalgia in their voice, and they all highlight similar issues they are facing now.
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scene
2
workshop ‘your daily life in l’arlequin’
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workshop 1
‘your daily life in l’arlequin’
The first workshop took place in february, during a meeting of the association APU with whom I teamed up in the process of the project. The workshop was about defining the routines of the building by identifying the routines of the people. Which spaces are used, which are not, and why. I asked everyone to choose a pen and draw their daily routes, which way they usually take, and why. What do they see there, and how do they feel. The work on the map combined with the discussion that were going around at the same time gave a great insight of people’s use of the building and highlighted the issue they are facing. They also brought me knowledge on the history and how the gallery used to be, and what the space used to bring to the whole neighborhood.
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scene
3
workshop ‘look closer’
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workshop 2 ‘look closer’
The second workshop took place two months after the first one, in april. At that stage of the project, I was looking into the building in detail. I was discovering more beauty and I wondered if they would see it too. We started to walk around with a small group, along the gallery, to look, discuss and debate. Does everyone see the same things? When we went back to the meeting room, we started talking again, with a bigger group this time. I had brought many photos that I took of the space, and laid them on the table. After a brief introduction, I told them that they could choose photos they like, or photos they are intrigued by, or photos they simply dislike. And write down what they see. From the start, people were very enthusiastic with the photos, and commented on the fact that it is good to see their buildings like that. And they started to write. Some were more comfortable than others, some wanted to talk. So I listened and wrote for them. Reading their comments, I started to see even more details in the building. And we decided that we should make something of these photos. In the meantime, many went home with their favorite photos.
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bonus scene the exhibition
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after the workshops the exhibition
After the second workshop where we looked at photos of the building together with the residents, they suggested that we could hold an exhibition of these photos in the gallery. And we did. After I made the plan for the exhbition, we worked out logistics with David Bodinier, the member of the association I was working with. It has been a great opportunity to share another view
on l’Arlequin and to give a purpose to the gallery. A way to reactivate the pride that the residents once had of the building. During the building up of the exhbition, lots of curious people came along, to talk or just to look. And people were intrigued by the photos, because they could see this building in a way they usually don’t.
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act
3
in the surgery room
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act 3
in the surgery room
The final act brings the first two together. It is where all the research and fieldwork come into a plan and tools for design. Based on the collaboration, vision and reflections, the last act defines design tools to approach the building ; surgeries to heal the body. Two categories of interventions emerged in the process. The stitches, aiming to close the wound, stop the bleeding and reconnect the body together. The stents, aiming to restore the flow in the gallery, main artery of the building keep the entire body alive. These two types of interventions that need to be performed on the body are translated into three architectural tools : the stitches are the connection tool, the stents can be both a programmatic tool and an inviting tool. These interventions, carefully performed on a specific location chosen with the context, spatial quality of the space or comment that came along in the collaboration process have a greater impact on the entire building and neighborhood. By using the tools precisely, little change can have a huge impact. This hopefully allows to preserve the qualities of the space and the community while bettering the living environment, changing the perceptions and avoiding gentrification.
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scene
1
connecting tool
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reconnect the building together and to its surroundings
2
8
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stit
es ch
connecting tool
the gallery constitutes the identity of the arlequin
connection and identity have been damaged by the demolitions
‘‘they found excuses to demolish our building and a lot of families had to leave. it was hard. we tried to stop the demolitions, we even voted but they didn’t listen’’
the demolitions left scars on the building and in the community
restore the connection and create a memorial for the demolitions
‘‘they cut the building and now there are a lot of dead ends, it’s not good for the safety’’
‘‘the gallery used to be the safe route from one end of the building to the other, and even to the shopping mall’’
residents words
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surgery 2/8 the passage
The passage reconnects the building together after the demolition of the number 20. Not only it brings back the safe route from one end to the other but it also forms a new entrance to the park and the neighborhood on the most exposed corner of the building.
It forms a monument to remember the past, a new landmark for the area, with a meeting space for residents and outsiders. It starts a new route for teenagers going to school, for people entering the park and it reconnects the number 10 to the rest of the building.
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avenue de la bruyère
10
park
city
30 rue de l’arlequin
[surgery n°2 - the passage]
‘‘the demolition of the 20 was very hard on people, many families were forced to leave’’
‘‘the number 10 is standing alone now, it feels like its not part of the building anymore’’
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surgery 2/8 [the passage]
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existing
ground floor
new
ground floor
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surgery 8/8 the bridge
After the demolition of the number 160, the passage that led to the rest of the urban fabric was demolished. Because the gallery is there on a higher level, this demolition had an even stronger impact on the use of the building. The number 170 is completely disconnected
and this passage has just become a paved empty space. With the bridge, the connection is made, and the souvenir is protected. The underlayer creates a new playful route to the park and connects to the Olympic Village.
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park 150
170
village olympique [surgery n°8 - the bridge]
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surgery 8/8 [the bridge]
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existing
new
ground floor
ground floor
first floor
first floor 183 the life story of l’arlequin
surgery 8/8 [the bridge]
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scene
2
programmatic tool
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1
5
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reprogram the gallery to answer the needs of the residents
ste
nt
programmatic tool
the gallery is meant to be the meeting place of the arlequin
‘‘young people here have nothing to do and nowhere to go, so they just hang around’’
the gallery is meant to be an inside street filled with program
all the program disappeared through the years, leaving it empty
‘‘we used to have a lot of program in the gallery, but everything is gone now, there are many associations still, but not enough space’’
bring back program to tie the community to its space
‘‘we need to reactivate the space here, and give it to the people’’
residents words
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surgery 1/8
the community space
The community is what holds the neighborhood together, and they need more space to meet. They need to be visible to extend the community and highlight the good the associations are doing in the neighborhood. With the new community space located between the school, the neighbors of La Bruyère, the park and the new entrance, the space is reactivated. This space is managed by residents, with a keeper
during the day for free access to all and access for associations outside opening hours. The space takes care of the community and the community takes care of the space. To fight the dropping out of school the generations are facing, tutoring is happening here everyday with the association of Anais, already present in the neighborhood, but lacking space and people.
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avenue de la bruyère
la bruyère
school
10
park
[surgery n°1 - the community space]
‘‘there are many associations but not enough spaces’’
‘‘lots of kids drop out of school, we need more space for school support’’
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surgery 1/8 [the community space]
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existing
new
ground floor
ground floor
first floor
first floor 193 the life story of l’arlequin
surgery 1/8 [the community space]
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surgery 5/8 the café
The association the Barathym, which holds a café in the existing community space is struggling. The new location in between the central piazza and the tram stop will give more viisbility to it and activated the space
around for better safety. The café gives a needed meeting space for people and a new facade to the outsiders passing by in a tram or coming from the olympic village.
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community center crique centrale 120
village olympique [surgery n°5 - the café]
‘‘the Barathym is a great association but it is too hidden’’
‘‘the 120 is the most problematic now, it is not very safe’’
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surgery 5/8 [the café]
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ground floor
first floor
first floor 199 the life story of l’arlequin
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scene
3
inviting tool
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repurpose the space to encourage the use of the gallery
3
4
6
7
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ste
nt
inviting tool
the gallery is meant to be the meeting place of the arlequin
‘‘the gallery is empty so nobody uses it, and that is what causes the safety issues, because it has been taken over by the people dealing drugs’’
the gallery is meant to be a space of expression for the residents
emptiness and non-use are trapped in a snowball effect
‘‘when there is an issue in the gallery, housing corporations just build walls, but it just reinforces the problem’’
redirect the routes through the gallery to create more opportunities
‘‘because it is empy, it gets dirty, and there is just one person in charge of the maintenance of the entire gallery!’’
residents words
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surgery 3/8 the gallery
The gallery creates a new animated route in the gallery and relates to the passage. It is a place for people to express themselves and to experience the gallery. The structure ensures transparency and forms a landmark
along the road below. Visible from the tram stop and other facilities around, it repurposes the space to encourage people to use it and feel safe.
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30
rue de l’arlequin
[surgery n°3 - the gallery]
‘‘we need to reactivate the space here, and give it to the people’’
‘‘i make a lot of paintings and i would like to show them’’
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surgery 3/8 [the gallery]
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new
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ground floor
first floor
first floor 207 the life story of l’arlequin
surgery 4/8 the playground
Another space to connect the kids, and to activate the dead end of the gallery. A protected playground to teach children from a young age to play in the gallery and
appreciate its quality. Its location, in the green and in the inside of the park, ensures protection and an easy access from all sides of the neighborhood.
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school
school
school
park 80
school
[surgery n°4 - the playground]
‘‘we need more space for kids’’
‘‘we need to change the image of this gallery’’
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surgery 4/8 [the playground]
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existing
ground floor
new
ground floor
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surgery 6/8 the studio
The studio is a space for all, inviting to look at art made by the residents and the schools of the neighborhood, a place of expression, a new meeting space for associations. On ground level, an open space for exhibitions is managed by schools or associations and on the upper level a space to learn and develop
creativity. A space for the youth, the elderly and everyone else. The studio can be used by the schools around and forms a space that connects all the kids from the neighborhood. Its location between the central piazza and the market gives visibility and activates the now empty location.
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community center
market 100
110
crique centrale
[surgery n°6 - the studio]
‘the problem is that there are no spaces for the youth. so they just hang around doing nothing’’ ‘‘there were a lot of activities for the youth’ ‘‘the associations are a great way to give new perspectives to the youth’’ 213 the life story of l’arlequin
surgery 6/8 [the studio]
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new
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ground floor
first floor
first floor 215 the life story of l’arlequin
surgery 6/8 [the studio]
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surgery 7/8 the belvédère
One of nicest spaces to sit in in the gallery, the belvedère creates a visual connection with the olympic village and repurposes the dead end of the building. Like in an English garden, the walk along the gallery next to
the green leads to this gem where the sitting space allows a time for rest. Visible from the tram route, it also creates a new landmark in the gallery and a new meeting spot.
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130
rue maurice dodero
village olympique [surgery n°7 - the belvedere]
‘‘it’s a very nice place here, and just under my apartment! but there is nothing to sit on there’’
‘‘i like the ivy growing here’’
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surgery 7/8 [the belvédère]
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ground floor
new
ground floor
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epilogue
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regenerating perceptions ‘falling in love with l’arlequin’
In regenerating perceptions, I tried to look at l’Arlequin in a new way. To put aside my prejudice and to look inside, in details, to find out lovable pieces in what is seen as a monstruosity by many.
fun, for the architects and for the users. Empathy should be key in our training and in our work. Empathy for the building, and empathy for the users. We need to break the anonymity of architecture.
What I found out in this project is that qualities can be hidden, covered in dirt, but they are still there. They just need to be revealed. I also found out that it takes one person to look closer and discover these qualities to make others see them too. And make, at least, a slight change in perceptions.
One of the experts I met in the beginning of the project told me that I should change my topic, that there was nothing to save in the Arlequin. I disagreed at the time and I’m disagreeing even more now. There is a lot to save, and a lot to see. We only have to look at it from a different perspective, challenge the knowledge we built with time and give space to doubt. What if it could work.
Qualities of a building are not only hidden in the architecture, they are also in the stories people tell, the daily routines in a space, and the memories. Working together with people asks for a lot of energy, but it also gives a lot back. It gives input to go further, it develops empathy to go better. Buildings are not only piles of material, they are living elements that host people, their routines and their stories. By changing the way we look at building, we can and should develop empathy towards them, to design more relevant and sustainable futures.
With the feminist approach, inclusivity and sensibility were key words anchored in my mind, to keep looking at the building and the space in a poetic manner. Keep my eyes open to see better, with a different eye. Regenerating space starts with regenerating perceptions. Because that brings new perspectives to tackle a project better. In the end, this project relates the life story of l’Arlequin, and the possibility of a love story with people who encounter it.
This is the way I believe in architecture. Making stories, finding beauty, taking care of the spaces we have. Taking care of the inhabitants. Architecture should be marie-stella livrieri
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thank you I would like to give a warm thank you to all the people who accompanied me in this project, whether it was with talks, support, advice or love. Paul Kuipers, Jolijn Valk and Tess Broekmans, thank you for your support, inputs and kindness all along the process. David Bodinier for the advice and warm welcome in the APU. Family and friends, thank you for your support and your love. And a special thanks to all the people I met in Grenoble, who shared their experiences with me and made this project what it is today.
One last thanks to EFL Stichting for the financial support that allowed me to be on site so often.
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