The Urban Refuge

2021
Team point of view
Grenoble, located between city and mountain, is a privileged place where to develop symbiotic uses between nature and city. To become an urban refuge, the Rabot must be crossed to reconnect with the city and its geography. Like a round road, the walls become the new links that connect the valley to the Bastille. Acting as a protection, they turn the Rabot into a nature sanctuary on the mountain. Thanks to the side roads, the Rabot becomes central and is at the crossroads. Refuge of passage or stopover, refuge of events, the Rabot becomes the framework in which everyone can organize, participate, or simply enjoy cultural events, artistic installations, awareness or scientific discovery.

Jury Point of View
By employing lightweight architectural systems, the project helps to highlight the legacy of walls and buttresses in a new and practical way. By working on the idea of walking and contemplation, it offers “an experience that is both frugal and spectacular” in the surveying of an exceptional site. The jury emphasised the clarity and strength of the team’s idea: to give bodies the possibility of walking along and on the walls.