At a time of climate emergency and contraction of available resources, a continuation of urban sprawl is strongly questioned. The architectural project has a central role in the search for alternatives that allow the regeneration of urban territories, the careful densification of buildings in the direct vicinity of public transport, and, more broadly, the inclusion of good construction practices within the transition dynamics towards a low-carbon society. In the Swiss context, a large part of the urbanized areas is on slopes, which generates multiple challenges in terms of building and mobility. The implantation of buildings and the creation of public spaces are confronted with unavoidable questions regarding the relationship to the ground level and measures to minimize soil excavation. Regarding mobility, it is a matter of rediscovering and revaluing transport techniques developed before the hegemony of the car and, more particularly, electric transport specifically adapted to the slope.
Located in the Monruz sector to the east of the city of Neuchâtel, the site selected for the 2024-2025 edition could undergo major changes in terms of mobility. The potential emergence of a mobility hub, including a new railway stop and an additional station for the La Coudre – Chaumont funicular, extended downstream, would greatly enhance public transport services. Currently occupied by a scattered residential fabric and by an imposing group of buildings with no interaction with the public space, the site is characterized, at the same time, by contrasting scales and the quality of its visual openings, which encourages architectural reflection on its possible future. Somewhere between utopia and realism, this resolutely forward-looking approach envisages a complete urban regeneration of an already artificialized site. The RELIEFS URBAINS Studio will aim to explore – through the architectural project – the multiple issues and potentialities of such a site. Increased attention will be paid to the question of intermediate housing, as much as to the landscaping and networking of public spaces according to the site’s unique characteristics.
Team
Professor : Prof. Emmanuel Rey
Teaching assistants : Clément Cattin, Martine Laprise, Sophie Lufkin
Experts : to be confirmed
Lectures
to be confirmed
Students
to be confirmed