For this episode, direction Nantes, and more precisely the island of Nantes, one of the eleven districts of the city, located in full center and bordering the Loire. Long called “Beaulieu Island” and abandoned for years, this district has become since the 2000s a territory in full urban renewal. It swarms of fablab, of foodlab and other experiments. It therefore seemed conducive to welcoming the city’s design school. A project led by Marc Mimram agencies And gpaa.
In the age of remote work, does the Nantes Atlantique School of Design meet the expectations of students? Elements of response in this podcast with the report of the journalist Marjolaine Koch and the debate of the critical meeting of the City of architecture and heritage.
It’s a story. Twenty years ago, the Nantes Atlantique School of Design hosted only around sixty students. Its ranks have grown from year to year, reaching the considerable number of 1,700 students. The establishment first spread over several sites, in the city and its agglomeration, but it quickly became clear that a new building had to be built capable of bringing together everyone’s lessons and activities. This need coincided with the project to give a new dynamic to one of the districts of the city, located in the very heart of it, on the Loire: a group of small islands united and named “island of Nantes” for their progressive rehabilitation.
After the closure of the Dubigeon shipyards in 1987, the western part of the island struggled to find an alternative to its industrial vocation… without completely renouncing the latter. This will be the Parc des Chantiers, punctuated by machines », halfway between attractions inspired by Jules Verne or Leonardo da Vinci and the vestiges of a bygone production. While office buildings, housing and shops have gradually taken over the vast space of the island, linked to the city by thirteen bridges, the Nantes Atlantique School of Design has established itself not far from the park, in a complex beautifully named Creation Quarter. In fact, the new campus brings together six establishments, including the school of architecture and that of fine arts.
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Today. The school took place for its start of the 2022 school year in a building with soft colors and rounded shapes, of 11,600 square meters. It includes showcase workshops on the ground floor, allowing students to observe the work of the students (ceramics, models, etc.), and three floors of classes, topped by an accessible green roof. The specifications included one constraint: build an underground car park. For this, the architect Marc Mimram raised the building slightly by placing it on delicate concrete needles: feet in the shape of thin triangles, hollowed out, like the eye of a needle. Independent offices, but which can be connected to the establishment if necessary, adjoin the design school. Finally, a “alley”so named by the architect, allows everyone to cross the building and see what’s going on there.
“Anything that can create public space, public gaze, openness to the world seems essential to me for a school of design, Judge Marc Mimram. It’s a place where people think about the world and the relationship to the world. » On this point, he fully agrees with Christian Guellerin, the director of the school for twenty-two years, who ensures: “I had only one requirement: that there be a central agora-type platform where students, the public, companies could meet and see the students work. » And they don’t hesitate, according to Emilien, a student won over by this new space. “When we have discussions to lead, in groups or even just a few, on projects, that’s where we meet”, he says enthusiastically.
The opinion of the experts. On the occasion of critical meetings of the City of Architecture and Heritage, architects and journalists discussed the interest of the place and its rehabilitation, under the leadership of Francis Rambert, director of the department of architectural creation at the Cité. Isabelle Regnier, from Worldappreciated the beauty of the agora, ” very friendly, an appropriable and collective space, the beating heart of the school”, but much less the overall design of the building: “When you go into detail, it’s frustrating. In particular because the classrooms are on the second day, without direct light. We have the impression of an overly ambitious program in relation to the size of the plot, the budget. I was not dazzled. Mimram is a poet of structures, but not a goldsmith of meticulous organization. »
A criticism that the architect and journalist Philippe Trétiack moderates: “It’s not mind-blowing architecture, but it’s an ideally designed tool. People are happy to be there, and it shows. There is lightness and freedom in this project. » A sensation experienced by the architect and teacher Richard Scoffier as well. “The brilliant thing is the circulations, which recall the balconies of Spanish piazzas. One can imagine all the students installed from the balconies. These circulations are supplementary. They are not used to feed the rooms, but they are fed by the rooms. »
“Interesting Archi”, a podcast produced and directed by Joséfa Lopez for The world, in partnership with the City of Architecture and Heritage. Report: Marjolaine Koch. Voice-over: Isabelle Regnier. Directed by: Eyeshot. Graphic identity: Mélina Zerbib, Aurélien Débat. Partnership: Sonia Jouneau, Victoire Bounine.