Pont Aven (FR)
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Data
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Pont Aven (FR)
Scale L-S
Team representative architect, urbanist, landscape architect
Location Pont-Aven -Finistère(29)
Population 2801 inhabitants
Project site 3 ha
Site proposed by ville de Pont-Aven, Concarneau Cornouaille Agglomération
Actors involved ville de Pont-Aven, Concarneau Cornouaille Agglomération, Etablissement public foncier de Bretagne
Owner(s) of the site Private owner
Commission after competition Urban and architectural feasibility study. Urban and architectural contract with associated clients.
More Information
Urban City Strategy
The city wants to make the Aven, a major source of biodiversity, the axis of redynamisation of a town that is struggling to remain "alive" and to build a contemporary history beyond the fixed image of city-museum that it currently bears. The 3 abandoned hectares of the Belle Angèle represent an opportunity to bring to fruition the two memories that constitute the pride and identity of the Pontavénistes, in a new project for a city animated and driven by its river. At the hinge of urban and geographical conditions that for the moment are unknown to each other, this site can be the place and time of their mutual reenchantment. New interrelationships between humans and non-humans, new cultural, social and economic vivacities, and new landscape opportunities are thus to be imagined to make La Belle Angèle an active, lively and renatured city entrance in contact with the Aven.
Site Definition
Located in the hollow of the Aven valley, nestled between the Bois d'Amour on one side and the D4 road that irrigates the center of Pont-Aven on the other, La Belle Angèle* occupies an emblematic position both geographically and historically. It runs for nearly 450 meters along the river section of the Aven at the entrance to the town, while the port represents the maritime entrance. It is also at the junction between two types of memory: the memory of the painters symbolized by the Bois d'Amour, and the memory of the workers of the 20th century. This industrial complex housed canning activities from the construction of the first building in 1930 to the final closure of the site in 1998.
* Before being a cannery, the "Belle Angèle" was the name of a model painted by Paul Gauguin, famous representative of the "school" of Pont-Aven.
How Must Metabolism and Inclusivity Be Developed and Connected?
Beyond the issues that all small French towns face, Pont-Aven's artistic past immobilises it as a museum town, an image that it struggles to shed today. There is no denying that the town is attractive to tourists and retirees who visit time and again to enjoy this idyllic setting, but it is not so attractive to a young active population Young locals leave for other places, nor are young people from other places interested in living by the Aven. Although the Belle Angèle brownfield is located at the entrance of the town, it symbolises the town's halt over the past thirty years.
The liveliness of the Aven as both a river and an environment makes it possible to launch a new dynamic and pull Pont-Aven out of its slumber. This is about waking up the town by creating new symbioses between "nature" and "culture" and to use the omnipresence of the river as the basis for a new founding narrative. The Aven flows through the town physically as well as historically and can therefore fairly clearly be a base for a new form of urban development. But beyond a physical organisation of the land, the Aven can also support new economies and life styles focused around the preservation of the environment, a mindful consumption of resources, leaving behind a destructive social model. The Aven is as much a biodiversity reserve as an opportunity to invent such new mutual connections on a living scale. La Belle Angèle is, for its part, the ideal site for experimenting with innovative architectural and urban forms. By being open to local initiatives, it can become a true cultural and inclusive laboratory, faithful to the emancipated and popular state of mind of Pont-Aven.
Questions on the site
Hello, Could we have pictures of the interiors of the buildings, especially the structures. Could we also have a topographic plan? Thank you in advance.
Hello,
The city does not have a topographic map. We do not have a topographic map.
The photos of the interior of the buildings have been filed in the Complete site folder : 0-New_Docs_After_Lauch / FR-PONT-AVEN-PS-P11 to P27
There are also some pictures of the interior of the factory, on the website of the real estate agency that is handling the sale of the Belle Angèle via the link below:
Good morning, Madam, Sir, I see that you were talking about a filmed visit of the site, has anything already been transmitted that i have not seen? For example, will we get more information on the existing hangars? Or a site map? Sincerely
Hello,
The film of the virtual site visit, shot on May, 10th, 2021 will be put online soon. The candidates will be informed.
An in situ site visit, organized by the city, will take place on Saturday, May, 29, 2021 and registration can be made via the following adress: contact@europanfrance.org
All information is available on the Europan France website: europanfrance.org
The ground plan of the former cannery (FR-PONT-AVEN-PS-M2) is the only plan we have.
La Belle Angèle being still a private property, it is hard to get more information.
Hello, Is it possible to have the location map of the photos that were added in a second time? Thank you in advance.
A location map transmitted by the city of Pont-Aven, which includes some photos sent previously, is available for download in the New-Docs_After_Launch file, of the complete site folder :
FR-PONT-AVEN-PS-M3.PDF
FR-PONT-AVEN-PS-M4.PDF
Hello, I take the liberty, before the deadline for submitting questions, to make the link with the previous question concerning the request for a topographic plan particularly interesting for this site. Has there been a return email?
Hello,
The city does not have a topographic map. We are trying to get one and will get back to you.
Is it possible to divert the D4 road?
No, the road is one of the main entrances to the town and is a departmental road.
Is it possible to make a light construction on the Aven?
A reflection could be envisaged but seems complex, a particular attention should be paid to various points (continuity of the watercourse, regulatory authorizations, sporting activity of canoe, respect of the green setting, bois d'amour on the other side of the bank not belonging to the commune but object of a long lease to the profit of the commune).
Does the current site have any listed buildings or structures?
No.
Is it possible to have the asbestos report of the site?
Elements are present in the report of the SARL AD INGE (notice deconstruction and asbestos removal carried out by AD INGE in 2021). The report is available for download in the folder 0-New_Docs_after_Launch, of the complete site folder: FR-PONT-AVEN-T1
A part of the historical study and estimate of the deconstruction costs dating from 2014 (from which the information concerning these costs was precisely removed because obsolete) is also available for download: FR-PONT-AVEN-T3
Is it possible to create connections on the water with Le bois d'Amour?
Some connections already exist (bridges). A reflection could be envisaged but seems complex, a particular attention should be paid to various points (continuity of the watercourse, regulatory authorizations, sporting activity of canoe, respect of the green setting, wood of love on the other side of the bank not belonging to the commune but object of a long lease to the profit of the commune).
Is it possible to have the geotechnical studies of the site?
Elements are present in the report of the SARL AD INGE (notice deconstruction and asbestos removal carried out by AD INGE in 2021), available in download of the file 0-New_Docs_after_Launch, of the complete site folder: FR-PONT-AVEN-T1
Elements are also present in the report of studies of the adjoining buildings carried out by SERTCO in 2021, available in download: FR-PONT-AVEN-T2
A part of the historical study and estimate of the costs of deconstruction dating from 2014 (from which the information concerning these costs were precisely removed because obsolete), is available in download: FR-PONT-AVEN-T3
Why did the cannery close?
The closure is linked to the economic crisis, as well as to the purchase of the site and its exploitation by the CECAB cooperative which did not wish to make new investments to maintain the activity and turned to other more recent exploitation sites (site at the end of the cycle and absence of equipment renewal)
What happened to the project of the contemporary art center? Is it abandoned, or is there an expectation from the inhabitants of Pont Aven about its opening?
The contemporary art center is a project on hold. The inhabitants have not yet expressed any specific or urgent expectations concerning this type of equipment. The commune also has the Pont-Aven museum, which is recent and offers various exhibitions.
This site is connected to the following theme
Recovery New energy has to be found for these sites through a treatment that respects the existing environment introducing specific elements and actions able to develop a resilient city.
Dynamizing Landscapes
These sites present a potential to develop a landscape that strongly animates new developments, granting them qualities in the sense of creating a living milieu, integrating rich biodiversity in the realm of public spaces.
Specific documents
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Questions on the site
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Fr. 2 June 2023
Deadline for submitting questions
Fr. 16 June 2023
Deadline for answers
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