... is a feasibility study for a mix-use development in Merignac, in the suburbs of Bordeaux. Just like other cities, even the French metropolis has fallen subject to massive exodus from the city, with density of occupation steadily decreasing.

 

Located on the axis connecting the airport with the city centre, the design (part of a wider masterplanning scheme) aims to reintroduce density and mediate the harsh differences between the city and its periphery.

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This project formally led by Gilles Guyot and partner-in-charge Reinier de Graaf was very much my individual task. Densification was from the beginning the main driver of the project. Any experimental attempts to reinvent density were, however, immediately rendered a nuisance by the client. A rational stepped series of boxes was all that mattered. The goal was to determine the most efficient and sane organisation on the site. The result became exactly that - a mathematical rather than an architectural analysis - much more effectively achievable by an AI software. Additionally, due to its oversimplified composition, any intriguing, layered future occupation is hard to imagine. Instead of forming a metaphorical bridge the dense city and the dispersed sprawl, Merignac's destiny is hardly optimistic - a higher-end managerial suburbia.

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PROGRAMME: housing, commerce

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LOCATION: Merignac, France

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STATUS: PROG stage 1 - feasibility study

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