Multiple distinctions for a Master Project carried out at LAST

Model PDM  © Julien Emery, Julie Hennemann 2012

Model PDM © Julien Emery, Julie Hennemann 2012

Julie Hennemann and Julien Emery's Master Project, carried out at the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST), was honored during the last graduation ceremony by obtaining three awards: The SIA Prize, the Commune of Ecublens Prize and the Durabilis Award. Exploring the current issues of sustainable urban densification, this work focused on the development of a specific vision for the regeneration of the disused railway area of Clarens (VD).

Today, the recovering of disused railway areas is one of the means to limit urban sprawl by offering alternatives through dense neighborhoods in the heart of cities. By a first regional approach and a multi-scale analysis, this theoretical part focused at first on identifying issues and potentials of the Riviera and Chablais in the next decade. In a context characterized by the development of the Leman area, the disused railway area of Clarens stands out not only because of its strategic location but also because of the big gap between its current use and its potential.

By taking advantage of the situation and the topography, the project offers a regeneration of the entire sector in a mixed neighborhood and an urban cutting-out with the various existing buildings. Organized around a main new public space, it creates a new soft mobility itinerary by connecting the four main vertical accesses leading to the lake and by uniting the two plots constituting the wasteland. To give rhythm to the pedestrian path, this route is also sequenced by a variety of public spaces, ranging from landscaped to more urban, staging diversified relationships to the railway and the lake.

The supervision group who followed this Master Project was constituted of Prof. Emmanuel Rey (supervisor), Prof. Vincent Kaufmann (responsible for the theoretical part), Nicolas Strambini (teaching assistant) and Sandra Maccagnan (expert).

References

Julie Hennemann et Julien Emery, "Reconversion de la friche ferroviaire de Clarens (VD)", Projet de Master en architecture, 2012