ARCHITECT . MARC BARANI ARCHITECTES
CLIENT . ÉCOLE CENTRALE DE PARIS
LOCATION . SACLAY [FRANCE]
SIZE . 76 000 m²
DATE . 2012
The architecture and urban planning competition for the École Centrale de Paris and the Joliot-Curie neighborhood provided a new campus for the engeneering school in Saclay. Architecture and urban planning share essentially the same challenges and the same ambitions: to create a spatial layout capable of stimulating encounters, innovation, cooperation, responsiveness, openness, movement, conviviality. With these challenges in mind, the project proposed to establish the École Centrale de Paris as a linear and branched point of contact between three core parts in the neighborhood: the major public square at the heart of Moulon, the Joliot-Curie street and further afield on the hillsides. The designed layout thus resonated with the scale of the site, adjusting the general composition of the campus to the components of the future landscape. It intensifies the native contrast of this territory by associating dense urban spaces with the natural power of the landscape.
Photo credits: Marc Barani Architectes