E18 Portrait - Radical softness

Miramas (FR) - Runner-up

Radical softness

Associates: Gautier Rey (FR), Davide Cauciello (IT), Octavio Piñeiro Aramburu (AR) – architects

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"The challenges of the project lie in the ability to re-source housing from what is already there: the climatic environments of the Crau, local resources, existing buildings, and resident solidarities. The project is regenerative because it mobilizes the existing – buildings, soils, water, climate, uses – as the raw material of the project. It densifies without exhausting, improves living conditions, restores cycles, and strengthens interdependencies between humans, non-humans, and the territory."

The transformation and adaptation of the Cité cheminote district across three timeframes and three climatic conditions
Focused redesign of blind façades to improve the quality of living
The renewed cheminot housing block designed for bioclimatic comfort