EXTRA MOENIA

This 300.000 sqm peri-urban area is a key access point to the city, located at the crossroads of essential local and regional infrastructures. Since the 16th century, it has served defensive, agricultural, and military roles, with landmarks like the Bourbon Cavalry Headquarters. However, the WWII and 20th-century urbanization left it abandoned, surrounded by new urban settlements, and socially and environmentally degraded. The project seeks to revitalize the area by integrating its historical and archaeological heritage, agricultural land, surrounding infrastructure, and new residential areas.

The design process begins with an analytical phase to understand the area’s evolution and define its role within the city. The critical analysis of the outcomes serves as foundation for the urban project. Next, a syntagmatic phase establishes a settlement principle that unites natural, historical, and territorial references, including Roman paths, the barracks, and Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la Villette as a measurement tool for managing the project's scale. These layers are arranged into a spatial grid and 12 distinct building forms. Once the framework is established, the analogical phase refines the design by reinterpreting key architectural references. The project encompasses northern and eastern areas, transforming the site into a cohesive urban segment creating a new natural neighborhood with public-interest buildings. Barriers are removed, connectivity improved with a semi-underground vehicular road parallel to the railway and highway, pedestrian pathways, and a "fil rouge" walkway bridge that links historical points, overcoming elevation changes and unifying the area west to east with several towers that facilitate its use. Water features connect the space to the existing river and a newly designed pond. To the west includes an underground parking and square, a bus terminal, a “Citadel Museum” housing archaeological finds. The monumental area gains a civic center, and to the north, a dormitory and a library, with potential for converting barracks into a school. The east residential plot area is integrated into the park with new residential, commercial, and office spaces. Architectural highlights of the project include the municipal market as a historic center-facing icon; a multi-sports center engaging the park’s core and a post office completing the visual axis.