The prerequisite for any design is the question of pleasure. The pleasure of reinventing and reinvesting a building with atypical dimensions and of giving it a new history. This totem building makes us pass from the safeguard of a collective memory of an industrial past to another form of memory, now digital.
I wanted a building that is educational in the sense that it offers itself to be read and to experience the space in all its dimensions, length, width, height, and thus reveal the architectural and patrimonial singularities. I tried to avoid a reflexive approach that would like a large central atrium lined with offices, but rather to invest the void as an experience of space and to reconnect with the industrial history of this building built in 1847.
Invited by «Le Voyage à Nantes», YokYok was led to propose an artistic intervention in order to reactivate an old barn, at the heart of the park of Forget Island, for the city of Saint-Sebastien-sur- Loire. (44, France)
Situated along the Loire river, on a floodplain, the unique building of the island, which old barn’s function explains the singular morphology is set with an overlooking terrace offering views 360 around the park.
Indulging in the Sunday pleasure of idleness, a couple observes the effervescence of the Parvis des Nefs. The big elephant leaves the Galerie des Machines. Its gears animate the imposing pachyderm and fascinate young and old. The children are playing. The teens congregate around the benches, and further on, a street fitness session brings together around fifty people. On the horizon, the merry-go-round of the Mondes Marins and the titanic yellow crane punctuate the landscape with their fascinating curiosity. Vast public spaces with evocative names such as the Jardin des Berges, the Jardin des Voyages, the Esplanade des Traceurs de Coques, the Parc des Chantiers, the Terrasse des Vents make up the panorama of the old shipyards of île de Nantes.
KAAN Architecten unveils the multi-use development designed within the new district of Bottière Chénaie in the North-Eastern area of Nantes (France). The winning entry of an international competition held in 2013, this project is part of a wider urban development plan conceived by urban planner Jean-Pierre Pranlas Descours in collaboration with landscape firm Atelier Bruel-Delmar.
Location: 190 Route de Sainte Luce, 44300 Nantes, France
Photography: Sebastian van Damme
Project team: Dante Borgo, Sebastiaan Buitenhuis, Marc Coma, Sebastian van Damme, Paolo Faleschini, Marylène Gallon, Renata Gilio, Narine Gyulkhasyan, Sophie Ize, Jan Teunis ten Kate, Wouter Langeveld, Julie Le Baud, Yinghao Lin, Aimee Mackenzie, Elsa Marchal, Ismael Planelles Naya, Ana Rivero Esteban, Cécile Sanchez, Yannick Signani, Christian Sluijmer, Joeri Spijkers
Delicately inserted into the so-called “Citroën” block,” Le Nant’ile reflects a return to the basic organizational principles of the district with the intensity one expects from a densely built-up city blended with its diverse purposes: living, dwelling and working. Three main goals underpin this structure: first, to create a ribbon volume that fits into the linear layout of existing buildings; second, to ensure visual and pedestrian porosity, weaving all the unbuilt spaces into a legible and fluid continuity; and finally, to build highly diverse spatial configurations making it possible for its occupants to lead a wide variety of lifestyles.
The Reflets de Loire project is located on block 6 of the ZAC du Pré Gauchet (joint development zone) in the center of Nantes. The mixed-use program is comprised of a base of two office locations on the ground floor atop which 90 apartments have been built. The meticulous treatment of the façades has resulted in a simple and expressive architectural style achieving three main criteria for success: first, meeting the quality expectations sought by the developer; second, taking into consideration the existing neighboring buildings as a reference for sizing volumes; third, ensuring a high quality of life in the apartments and the related spaces created.
The ambitious Désiré Colombe project by the architecture firm Leibar & Seigneurin completes a major project undertaken by the city of Nantes, jointly sponsored by Nantes Métropole Aménagement and ADI. This development has brought back to life an emblematic legacy of the built center of Nantes and an abandoned landscape, including the particularly noteworthy former Bourse and the Salons Mauduit, on a surface area of approximately one hectare (2.47 acres). It brings together public and private uses with dwellings, meeting spaces, a nursery and a public garden.
The architecture firms of LAN, Abinal & Ropars and Atelier Stéphane Fernandez deliver the new Polaris district in Nantes
This 1.5-hectare lot (3.70658 acres), facing the Loire River and the former site of the Brossette Company’s warehouses, is now home to six new, mixed-use buildings, one of which is a panoramic 18-story tower.
Polaris is the fruit of collaborative design effort with LAN originating the master plan and the main urban principles governing the development. They also were the lead architecture firm working with Abinal et Ropars and Atelier Stéphane Fernandez.
Composed of curved angles and surrounded by undulating balconies, New’R pays homage to Oscar Niemeyer as well as to the architecture of the 1970s French Riviera, (André Minangoy and Michel Marot’s “Marina Baie des Anges”, for example) and finally the hedonistic fantasy of Miami Beach! Sensual and multi-directional, the building is located at a pivotal point between the ‘Mail Picasso’ and the new neighbourhood currently being developed alongside the rail infrastructure. Framing and capturing the existing location, New’R embraces the site and forms a new landscape.
The Paris office of Thibaud Babled Architectes Urbanistes just delivered a multipurpose complex comprised of 4 buildings, housing the headquarters of the Nantes Métropole “proximity” center, an office of Pôle Emploi (national employment agency) and housing. The project’s varied program of high quality architectural and environmental design creates a link between the inner city of Nantes and its periphery. At this pivotal juncture of city and periphery, Thibaud Babled chose to build a strong statement at the intersection of the high traffic volume of the boulevard and a hub of tram lines. The project grows out of the concept of a new metropolitan multi-modal center at the intersection of main road and rail axes.
The complex of buildings includes some forty units of housing as well as offices to be occupied by Nantes Métropole and Pôle Emploi.
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