E16 Portraits - Garonne Métropole

Bassens (FR) - Special Mention

Garonne Métropole

Associates: Julien Douillet (FR), Elena Gamez (ES), Javier Pelaez (ES) – architects

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"We understand conflict as the opportunity to discover new perspectives on architecture. In this case the three systems that define the site - port, landscape and city- operated separately  and neglected access to the waterfront in the city of Bassens . Our main goal was to transform these logics of urban disconnection into those of mixity and proximity. To do so, we re-imagined the Garonne river itself as the central actor of a new territorial intelligence that merges all four spheres of life: productive, caring, personal and socio-communitary."