Mantes-la-Jolie | Mantes-la-Jolie (FR)

Design – realisation: 2010-

Design: Eco-quartier

In collaboration with: Agence Ter

Location: Mantes la Jolie and Rosny sur Seine (FR)

Client: Epamsa

Team: Jo Coenen | Ard de Vries | Danny Bovens | Iva König

 

Eco-quartier FluvialMantes la Jolie et Rosny sur Seine, France

 

In 1880, at nearly 6500 meters from this location, Monet painted at the Seine’s riverbanks.

Despite the industrial revolution that has definitely left its marks, the beauty of the ever changing landscape, seasons and light are still palpable when you ride along the Seine’s river banks.  In the former hunting region of the Parisian aristocracy, now heavy industry has nestled on the route from Le Havre to Paris.

During the 60s and 70s the number of inhabitants of Mantes la Jolie has doubled as a result of the construction of the Banlieue le Val-Fourre west to the city. Situated on the border of the rustic French landscape with the traditional village of Rosny sur Seine at the east side and Le Val Fourre at the west side, a place inspired by the Modernist based ideals of Le Corbusier, this place deals with immigration and crime issues.

Scope of the project is to connect the beautiful landscape with the highly diverging scales of the village and the town at certain points and to separate them at other places. We have divided the major demand for 5000 new accommodations in this Eco-quartier into four different Quartiers:

  1. Les Jardins de Seine; an ecoquartier with gardens grouped around a large public space with view on the Seine which follows the natural landscape relief. A place very suitable for picnics.
  2. Le Port; along the dockyard ships can anchor and urban activities can be initiated. Density is high here and the place connects to several small squares looking out on the surrounding landscape.
  3. Le Bois des Berges; this district lies next to the socially complex Banlieu and is connected to a broad street. Many of the public spaces here are sports oriented.
  4. Le Prairie; this area has the special morphology of the prairie, with panoramic views and a wide stretching wilderness. The smaller areas are formed by clusters in the landscape, allowing for a direct contact with the flora and fauna.

The infrastructural node ties together the different districts and flows through the various landscapes. The river landscape, the natural park Des haute Garennes, the cultivated valley and the edge of the forest together form the beauty of this area and ask to be kept intact by strategically dealing with nature, agriculture and the recreational landscape.