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European Student Ideas Competition Lands beneath the sky: the Salève aerial cable-car site
Theme and Objectives (extract from the Dossier) Objectives of the Competition Understand the mechanisms underlying landscape development and transformation, or "How to read today's landscape?" Develop project tools or "How to intervene in the landscape?" Imagine conditions of change or "How to integrate an architectural and landscape project to stand the test of time?" This Competition represents not only a challenge for architecture and landscape architecture students who will be faced with a complex site, but also an opportunity to initiate and foster a public debate over the future of an area which includes one particular work, the aerial cable-car of the Salève, whose future has been brought into question by public authorities recently. A Cross-border landscape entity From a geological point of view, the Salève, like the Jura mountain, is one of the elements defining the borders of the Franco-Geneva region. For the habitants of the Geneva basin, it is a landscape backdrop whose future hinges as much on natural cycles as social processes. Because of its natural features, the Salève has been an important resource for centuries (quarries), as well as a site for observation and grounds for scientific, technical and recreational innovation. Its proximity to Geneva and favourable weather conditions (above the fog from the plain), has made it a popular spot for leisure outings and holidays. Various outdoor activities have developed there, particularly with the installation of pioneering infrastructures such as the cog cable-car in 1894 and the aerial cable-car of the Salève in 1932, a work of grand audacity and a beacon over the Salève landscape. This latter construction by the great Geneva architect Maurice Braillard (of which the upper station remains to date), is the key element in this competition. The Site and Surrounding Area The topography of the site and its surrounding geographical area invites one to reflect on a vast area stretching from the Arve River to the summit of the Salève. Nonetheless, the participants should focus on one or more of the three spatial/thematic sequences proposed below for the area along the cable-car line. The amount of space covered by each sequence may vary depending on the conceptual strategy they choose. 1. The fringes of the city This sequence stretches from the community of Etrembières (France) and down the strip running along the foot of the Salève and the French-Swiss border. It is characterised by scattered urbanisation and spatial segregation (residential and mono functional spaces), caused mainly by heavy infrastructures for transportation (motorways, highways, railway lines, etc.). This sequence includes the bottom station of the aerial cable-car of the Salève and constitutes a modal interface between public transportation and commuter traffic for the massif. The attractiveness, accessibility and readability of this area should be enhanced to improve its role as a crossroads linking town and mountain. 2. The Quarries Landscape This land sequence has been sharply marked by large quarries occupying a long perimeter of cliffs. Reconverting and beautifying this site requires proposing scenarios that can be worked in over different time frames. The closing down of the quarries is a gradual process that involves developing an improvement strategy for both the end result as well as the gradual steps for getting there. New uses of the space have to be proposed considering the neighbouring area with both the public space and landscape of the Salève, as well as the greater Franco-Geneva region. 3. The panoramic viewpoint and surrounding area The station at the top of the aerial cable-car offers a panoramic view over the Lake Geneva basin. It is a piece whose architectural quality should be valorized. In particular, there should be plans to reallocate the main part of the building above the arrival station, which was supposed to house the panoramic restaurant in the original project. This sequence serves as a kind of doorstep leading to the grounds where many leisure activities are practised on top of the Salève. The installations of this transitional space (parking, playground, arrival station, restaurant, and footpaths), should be rethought and made more attractive. Contact student-competition@archi.unige.ch Secrétariat du concours / Competition secretariat Institut d'Architecture de l'Université de Genève Concours: Entre Terres et Ciel 7 route de Drize, CH - 1227 Genève - Carouge All the details at: http://www.archi.unige.ch