La Machinerie de Bègles

site  Bègles, France

client Europan for the City of Bègle & the metropolitan agglomeration of Bordeaux

architecture Sarah Poot + William Riche

landscape Clap (S. Querio & F. Bonino)

timing prospective study 2017

award shortlisted finalist

Strategic vision for a productive city gate in Bordeaux

The ongoing debate on the way we live & work, and the place for industry in the city is fully undertaken.  In order to generate more space in the city for an urban economy, or provide attractive living conditions in a productive area, we need to combine better, to densify in a smart way and start layering more efficiently. This calls for new spatial models.

Bègles aims at anchoring its industrial identity as an essential component of the metropolitan city of Bordeaux, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the productive activity at the fringe of the city. La Machinerie de Bègles initiates a new economical model which differs from the resource-consuming industrial patterns. Going beyond the circular economy, it identifies three main local actors - the Paper Factory, Coliposte and the City of Bègles - that, together (with other local actors,) could initiates and implements several networks of collaborative economies that are closely intertwined and endlessly ramified. What if they become essential wheels in a broader mechanism that could also produce urbanity and society? What if each of those loops was turned into educational and professional opportunities, could support culture and leisure and anchor Bègle’s identity in the metropolitan landscape?

La Machinerie de Bègles, at the crossroads of the Garonne and the Green Delta of Bordeaux, links the existing industry with natural resources. Together, they generate a productive landscape that is activated by several Machines. They amplify and support the programmatic transition of industrial activities towards a more integrated productive model.

Finalist Europan 14 - Site Bègles, France

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legends

conceptual diagram

strategic timeline

water as a resource... for resilient public spaces

nature as a resource... for a social economy

industry as a resource... for a metropolitan society

masterplan

the water towers in the garden of Esteys

the point blocks in the resource-park

the lift in the fields of cultures

the transformer and the terrace of energies

the diffuser and the supersurface

all credits: Sarah Poot + William Riche & CLAP

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