The Grand Paris Eco Campus showcases the smooth conflation of training and architecture. Join us on a campus tour that will make you want to go back to school.
The new Eco Campus of Greater Paris is a training centre dedicated to the building trades and part of the redesign of the Domaine Chérioux in Vitry-sur-Seine, south of Paris. Following a progressive educational vision, the largest training centre in the Île-de-France region aims to be an exemplary project in terms of construction, environmental design, and the promotion of craftsmanship.
Reflecting the factories characterising this area in the 19th century, the project, developed by Périphériques Marin + Trottin Architects, reinterprets the historic ground plans and design elements. The result is a place that is both cutting-edge and part of history.
On a triangle footprint, six houses form a small quarter, housing classrooms, workshops, computer rooms, offices, and communal areas over a total area of 12,590 sqm. At first glance, visitors will notice the masterfully designed brick façade featuring angular bay windows breaking through the rigid geometry. For the building fronts architect David Trottin had a “not-too-smooth hand-moulded brick with a strong identity” in mind – a tribute to the industrial heritage of the former neighbourhood.
The Terca Agora Lie-de-vin perfectly matched his ideas. In close dialogue with the manufacturer, Trottin discussed the ideal laying and installation methods for the hand-molded terracotta bricks as early as the planning phase. The result was an airy grid with wave effects and projections on the terracotta façade, playing with light and shadow thus achieving a certain airiness.
The architects’ master plan also featured the idea of a hand-in-hand process: the techniques to be taught should be in close correspondence with the building in which they are housed. Consciously selected materials subtly embody the miscellaneous professions taught at the Eco Campus and pay tribute to the know-how and skillfulness of future technicians and craftsmen.
The strategy worked out: The spacious new training centre offers students a setting that merges history and modernity emphasizing the open and participatory character expected from a campus today.
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