CROSSING_OVER

TIME TO RECONCILE THE BANKS OF THE SEINE

COMPETITION 2013 – Europan 12
Site project: Rouen (FR)

Supervisor Arch. Marialessandra Secchi
with Benedetta Sciaraffa and Denise Mazzolini

The masterplan covers an area of 150 hectares and, as required by the call for applications, 300,000 m2 between residence, offices and services in the former Rouen Saint Severe (FR) railroad station, which was dismantled for TGV.

Proposed scenarios are projected in 2020 and we proposed the transformations of the dismantled station, the industrial waterfront, and a new connection with Ill Lacroix, taking into account the environmental problems associated with the flooding risk of the River Seine. The project works simultaneously on a metropolitan and on a local scales.

The approach is transversal and incorporates socio-cultural components. Permeability, mobility, accessibility, time flexibility, variety and environmental factor are key words of the project.

The large scale emphasizes the importance of water and the different ways in which land comes into contact with it along the quay. The objective is to counter the flooding and to allow better contact with the river through the creation of public spaces. The pedestrian bridge resolves the connection with the island, like a green link that combines two entities now divided.

The purpose is to encourage flows, exchanges, good relationships. Although the new fabric is based on the grid of the ancient city, in connection with pre-existence, its structure is not closed but it allows the entry of water and green, giving rise to isolated openings. To give substance to metamorphosis, buildings and spaces are flexible, designed to adapt to changes, not constraints, and favor a cultural and economic revival.

The name “Crossing over” refers to the recombination mechanism between chromosomes. Just as chromosomes exchange segments of genetic material, open isolates exchange people, typologies, water and green, giving rise to new scenarios.