The context

The members of the municipal council are considering the creation of a convivial place open to all to host various events while wishing to avoid the "usual" multipurpose room or annex of the town hall.

Wishing to save the site of the old mill with the adjoining wetland, they dreamed of building a contemporary "Village House" that would be an open space, accessible to all those who requested the key for ancestral or new uses. The ruin of the mill that may eventually be crossed (once fixed in its original state and restored) to access the Village House should symbolize the passage of time.

Through this project, the inhabitants wish to show their uniqueness and their willingness to look to the future by choosing an innovative architectural form. All the partners involved, the municipality, but also the architect, want to set themselves a target cost that is in line with the human scale of the village and its financial capacities. The use of materials of local tradition (stone) is recommended.

The commission

Marc Barani, who has already carried out small and medium-scale contextual projects, is being approached to build this moderate-sized architecture. He imagines a building with an oval perimeter and a round center. This proposal reads like an egg whose centre (the yolk) represents the communal solidarity of its inhabitants... while the oval envelope (the white) - allowing a walk on the roof and the connection with the old dike of a pond - represents the openness to others.

Marc Barani

Marc Barani is one of the best French architects. He received the Silver Square Award in 2008 and the Grand Prix National d'Architecture in 2013. Living and working in Nice, he is the author of emblematic buildings such as the Pôle multimodal du tramway in Nice, the contemporary art center Les Eglises de Chelles or the Centre de congrès de Nancy, as well as several excellently designed bridges.