URBASTUDIOURBANISME & ARCHITECTURE

On the right bank of the Garonne, Bassens is a growing industrial port. Above this vast area, a residential plateau of the Bordeaux metropolitan area overlooks the port. Between the two, there is no link—neither physical nor programmatic. On the contrary, strong urban barriers exist: road infrastructures and the high-speed rail line.

Through what we called River (S)trips, the aim is to develop a new, strong and legible landscape structure that extends from the inhabited plateau all the way to the river, crossing the large industrial-port zone. This structure weaves together connections—currently nonexistent—between two fabrics that turn their backs on each other, between two radically different scales.

Each landscape band has its own function, depending on its location: ecological, economic, energy-related, or social. These landscape bands also provide a framework for new services and facilities.

Here, transformation is grounded in the “already-there,” and the river becomes a rediscovered landscape and a vector of attractiveness toward which the urban space must open.