Saint-herblain (fr

sItE proposEd by

ciTy oF sAinT-HerblAin And nAnTes méTropole

oWnEr(s) of tHE sItE

ciTy oF sAinT-HerblAin, nAnTes méTropole, sociAl Housing inVesTors

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IntErvIEW

of the Site’S repreSentative fAbIEn gAntoIs, Site expert anD sAInt-HErblAIn MunIcIpAlIty (excerptS froM the coMpetition brief)

presentation of the site within the context of the city development and in terms of strategy

Designed between 1979 and 1982 on a garden-city model, the preux district won international prizes in 1984. it is now being overtaken by metropolitanisation. invisible from the major roads, under competition from nearby shopping centres, it has lost most of its activities and shops. the district is gradually closing in on itself and entering a process of decline. Saintherblain Municipality and nantes Métropole are therefore now looking for innovative project strategies based around: – connecting preux with the surrounding districts and the new public transport networks; – remodelling a neighbourhood with innovative and high quality living conditions.

How can the site be integrated in the issue of the adaptable city and how do you consider this issue?

the objective is to look at the district’s weaknesses and strengths and to propose a graft strategy of metropolitan adaptability. in keeping with the ambition driving the designers of the preux district in the late 1970s, the objective will be to redefine a new, attractive urban and architectural vision, appropriate to metropolitan ways of life. for example, there will be a need to look at the urban framework in terms of travel methods and interdistrict connection, to devise new relations between housing and work, to conceive a future for the district’s now derelict central square.

At the time of sustainable development coupled to an economic crisis, have you already defined a specific strategy for the urban development of the site?

the teams have been be invited to explore evolutionary scenarios for the district: how to adapt it to energy priorities (energy intensive housing), to social priorities (a population that is ageing or has reduced mobility), how to accommodate new inhabitants (densification of three plots, biMby type strategies, changes to the built fabric…), how to introduce building processes that are themselves adaptable, flexible and even reversible, etc? While Saint-herblain Municipality and nantes Métropole are seeking forward-looking ideas on the future of preux, these will nevertheless need to take the form of processes and scenarios that are themselves able to adapt to ongoing and future urban dynamics.

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jEAn-réMy dostEs (fr) clAIrE jEAnson (fr) architectS - urban plannerS nIcolAs bEyrEt (fr) architect gAbrIEl MAucHAMp (fr) lanDScape architect - urban planner

overvieW

Metacentre: the emergence of a garden territory

team point of view the project re-explores outlying territories and looks at the revitalisation of the preux district, a garden city that faces the gradual loss of the utopian qualities that founded its reputation. by imagining a dialogue between big urban entities (shopping malls, universities) and residential neighbourhoods, the project guides the emergence of ecosystemterritories: Metacentres. the team proposes a project-process that sets the minimum conditions for the Metacentre through a network of appropriable public spaces. the long-term management of the project is conducted via a tool of governance, the atelier du Metacentre, which defines key actions and brings together actors, timeframes (agricultural, cultural, academic) and local and global initiatives.

jury point of view the jury liked the territorial strategy, which introduces relations between points of centrality. by proposing to open the preux district to other hubs, Metacentre suggests a line of approach to an urban master plan, the basis for coproduction with residents. in so doing, the project avoids the trap of driving district intensification exclusively from within.

the MetacenterS of nanteS Metropole

the Metacentre, a neW territorial ecoSySteM poSSible relationS, SyMbioSiS of the urban entitieS

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to Make the city Differently, “the Metacenter Working StuDio”

collectif fil, 30 boulevarD guStave roch 44200 nanteS, france t. +33 688559831 contact.collectif.fil@ gMail.coM WWW.collectif-fil.coM

AnnE-lIsE gruEt (fr) frAnçoIs HAMon (fr) AMélIE AllIoux (fr) architectS MAud nÿs (fr) architect - civil engineer AnnE pEtIt (fr) architect - viSual artiSt

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DynaMicS in changing preux DiStrict

abSorbing infraStructure, DetaileD proceSS to revitalize backyarDS localizeD DenSification through SMall apartMent blockS or flat-Share

permaculture

team point of view Permaculture weaves the invisible fabric of the city, its places and shared links. it characterizes those often invisible urban dynamics that can restore the meaning of a neighbourhood. this iterative methodology looks at the short-term, the day-to-day and the event, in the longterm evolution (alteration) of the city. fast, micro-scale events generate disruption and change on the macro scale. in order to emerge rather than be imposed, the changes are based on citizen involvement; they confront private interests to bring the collective and now inevitable project into being. Permaculture maintains that the adaptability of a city is its ability to implement systems of production that consume less, bringing greater capacity for innovation.

jury point of view this project proposes a method for making the city in a participatory and phased manner. it synthesises several project timeframes: the timeframe of urbanism, stakeholders and public space. it explores the short term and the long term. the project advocates an urbanism of eclecticism and provisionality. it positions itself simultaneously at territorial and site scale. at territorial scale, it identifies four instruments of transformation. at the level of the study site, it develops four thematic interventions.

MÉlaine ferrÉ architecture Detroit architecteS 4 rue MarMontel, 44000 nanteS, france WWW.Melaineferre.coM WWW.Detroit-architecteS.eu

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punctuations…

team point of view rather than a new master plan for le preux, we prefer an approach that deals with each specific case. the urban treatment we propose seeks to turn each independent element into a project and it is the combination of these independent schemes that will fashion the urban personality of this area. We could call this method “punctuated urbanism”. each “punctuation” is independent of the others; discarding one along the way would not jeopardize the whole urban project. participation here applies not to the planning process but to the daily scale. the aim is to support the district of preux in its adaptation to the changes in the surrounding urban fragments. So it is the city that needs to adjust to its inhabitants, not vice versa.

jury point of view the project proposes the principle of “punctuated urbanism”, as distinct from ground plan or master plan strategies. this acupuncture strategy takes the form of 16 targeted interventions. the jury liked the development of a toolbox that can be used to intervene at small scale and that can be implemented with resident.