The building located in Lyon is a residence for researchers and programming of the consultation (won in 2010) clarified the role that he must have identification in the Gerland district undergoing urban transformation.
The operation resulted from a competition (“Archi’nova, comment habiterez-vous demain?” – Archi’nova, living in tomorrow’s world) launched by the Alliade group. The programs are built independently on the plot and share a central garden. The adopted morphology is diversified, urban in nature and the apartments of considerable quality: wet rooms are naturally lit and conservatories allow outdoor spaces to be incorporated during the summer months. A new typology is proposed: that of “single-level homes” in which a floor level corresponds to a single apartment. Taking up little floor area, they provide the vertical qualities of a detached house: four open faces, an outdoor space and considerable partitioning freedom as well as condominium-owned shared services.
It is rare that architects summon up the notion of disappearing when designing their projects. The very essence of architecture is the exact opposite. It is there to be seen, displayed, to make an impression. Sometimes, a site dictates the need to adopt a strategy where things are buried or hidden. This programme, at the heart of the Confluence district in Lyon, was intended to renovate and extend an electrical substation, which led the architects to imagine ways of making the object disappear. The project took up the challenge of producing something that would actually fade from memory and vanish over time.
Inaugurated by Explorations Architecture in November 2014, the Schuman bridge is the 17th bridge built on the Saône in Lyon. The international competition for the Schuman bridge, held in 2009 by the Urban community of Lyon (Grand Lyon), brought together designers such as Renzo Piano, Marc Mimram and Dietmar Feichtinger.
The GVB site is named after the three avenues that surround it: avenue Berthelot, route de Vienne and rue Garibaldi. This 1.7-hectare triangle of former industrial wasteland occupies a highly strategic location within the Lyon metropolitan area. It is situated in an urban area undergoing a profound transformation and developing at a rapid rate, in close proximity to two major development projects: the Sergent Blandan park and the rue Garibaldi, which has been partly modified.
Block 32 occupies a strategic position in the vast programme to renovate the Duchère neighbourhood, in Lyon. The OPAC du Rhône housing association has produced a building which incorporates 33 social rental housing units, 1,500m2 of office space dedicated to health-related activities, and has retail space throughout the ground floor. Its central location, at the crossroads between the new Abbé Pierre square and the east / west boulevard, means it is highly visible and its proximity to the athletics hall imposes the need for a resoundingly urban attitude.
The scheme comprises 100 housing units on a large 4,000 m2 site in Lyon’s 3rd arrondissement district. It occupies the northern part of an inner suburb-type block, characterised by various architecture of different programmes, forms, massing, and construction dates.
The DI-VA house, whose name is a play on the owners’ names, occupies a previously empty space in the residential Croix-Rousse district of Lyon.
Given the narrowness of the frontage, and the fact that there is a building directly opposite, the architects decided to adopt a judo-type strategy. The house turns away from direct confrontation, and exploits chinks in the landscape in order to optimise the views and ambiances. Entirely prefabricated, it was constructed in less than a week. Its sudden appearance came as something of a surprise to the neighbours, whose reactions were mixed. But in spite of its uncompromising colour and form, the building does not express any aggressiveness. On the contrary, it takes its place quite harmoniously in the surrounding topology, with tranquillity and a considerable degree of discretion.
For architects, designing a house is an adventure, but reality is often not as easy as foreseen. The site is complicated, the neighbours are unhappy, the unforeseen factors are really not foreseen, construction work is not as fast as planned, the ecological goals are difficult to reach, and the contractors are not as qualified as specified, and so on – the list is long. In this situation, the architect will be the arbitrator and the ground-breaker. In the end, the construction seems simple and natural.