Thesis title:
PARIS SACLAY COMMUNITY CENTER
Date of discussion:
06 October 2022
Students:
Mira Achkouty, Christelle Ayoub, Polina Razzhevaikina
Supervisor
Francesca Battisti
Professors of the Studio
Francesca Battisti (Architectural Design)
Grigor Angjeliu (Structural and Seismic Design)
Massimiliano Nastri (Sustainable Technology)
Giovanni Dotelli (Sustainable Materials for Architecture)
Francesco Romano (Service Design for Sustainable Buildings)
Abstract:
Within the framework of Grand Paris, the Saclay plateau undergoes a territorial transformation bound to create a remarkable dynamic base for higher education and innovation. This thesis studies the development of the “Urban Campus” in synergy with its environment, exploring the theoretical and practical importance of a communal civic core, that targets the intermingling of the communities and the strengthening of urban life. On the eastern edge of the École Polytechnique cluster is grafted the Community Center, the ultimate hitch that rounds the boundary between the architectural and the natural context. It generates a demographic flow, merging all users towards a collective sense of belonging: it is an agora, a melting pot of ideas and a puzzle of architectonic manifestations. An “Earth” forum emerges from the ground to accommodate a library, a scientific center, a recreation center, an event space, and multiple communal functions. Physically linking different ends of the site, it prompts themes of reversibility, re-use, and adaptation: traditional materials are coupled with reinvented construction methods to produce a labyrinth of rammed earth walls supporting a sustainable public platform. This podium is punctuated by individual technological blocks of concrete and steel contributing to the sequence of events along the promenade.