Site development at the Familistère in Guise, France by h2o

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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Site development at the Familistère in Guise, France by h2o architectes

March 6th, 2014 by Sumit Singhal

Article source: h2o architectes

The Familistère is a vast housing complex founded by Jean-Baptiste André Godin in 1859 in relation with the stove manufacturing business. Until 1968, this Social Palace was the theatre of a unique social experimentation in the industrial world: the Familistère was a sort of utopia for an industrial society composed like an urban transition between the town and the park of the city island nearby.

Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

Architects: h2o architectes
Project: Site development at the Familistère
Location: Guise, France
Photography: Stéphane Chalmeau ,FkP
Software used: Rhino
Program: Public space of the Familistère in Guise (4Ha), , Shared space 20Km/h, Footbridge, bridge extension, urban furniture (bench, signage), lighting.
Client: Syndicat Mixte du Familistère Godin
SEDA: Société d’Equipement du Département de l’Aisne.
Team: h2o architectes (lead architect) , Michel Desvigne Paysagiste (landscape architect), France Aires (Exterior infrastructure Engineer), , HDA (structure engineer).
Specificity: Classified Site for Historical Monuments
Surface: 4 Hectare
Construction cost: 3 000 000 € HT
Date: Delivered Janvier 2014

Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

The development suggested by the office respects three fundamental themes: unity of place, heritage and experimentation.

The project establishes a new readability of the site by creating a new sense of unity between its different existing parts. The great mineral square in the centre for example creates a new tension between the different buildings and reactivates the original axial planning.

Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

At the heart of the site, a series of thematic “islands” at a reduced scale allow for an easy and constantly renewed use. The program of events on these « thematic islands » is open to constant improvisation and experimentation, echoing Godin’s philosophy about invention and incompletion.

Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

Image Courtesy © FkP

Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © h2o architectes

: Image Courtesy © FkP

: Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

: Image Courtesy © Stéphane Chalmeau

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Tags: France, Guise

Categories: Public Landscapes, Rhino, Urban Design

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