Landscape Architects: Pascal Heyraud sàrl
Architects: Nussbaumer Perone architectes
Photos by: Pascal Heyraud sàrl
Typology: Public Square
Location: Geneva
Date: 2011-2015
Situated in the heart of Geneva’s Jonction neighbourhood, this project has transformed a street and a parking lot into an open, multipurpose public space. Particular attention was paid to maintaining the square’s existing qualities – its open spaces and vegetation – and to the desiderata of its local users, shopkeepers, inhabitants and neighbourhood associations. The square’s formal simplicity, together with the materials used, offer the area a generous new public square for a great variety of possible users and uses. At the foot of the building, where the shops give directly onto the square, a broad aggregate concrete esplanade now accommodates the local restaurants’ terraces. A light coloured gravel has been spread under existing trees. A variety of street furniture – tables and seats – is set on this permeable surface. Not only is the square the nexus for numerous footpaths, but the project also makes sustainable mobility a focal point thanks notably to a spiralling footbridge.