Ecological Urbanism

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The group mapped topography in the precinct as a prelude to a series of proposals that would launch a more  ecologically sensitive approach to urbanism. The low-lying areas could become sites of new storm water retention basins, as part of a larger strategy of water infrastructure in cities attuned to the value of integrating landscape with the flow of rainwater, as opposed to more traditional and decorative approaches to landscaped parks. The study of topography also identified a natural amphitheatre next to the Place des Arts that could be intensified with a proposal for a new structure for bicycle parking, that would serve as well as a sound- attenuating wall as well as a listening and observing balcony for festival events. The attention to such amenities as bicycle parking structures, examples of which can be found in bicycle-oriented cities such as Amsterdam, connect to a larger infrastructure integrating bicycle laneways with a network of green laneways. The fine- rained network of existing lanes and lane fragments would become a tissue of paths that privilege all-season bicycle and pedestrian movement through the city. 

Le spectacle est le capital á un tel degré d'accumulation qu'il devient image.



Guy Debord, La Société du spectacle, 1967 Chapitre 1, 34