In their Europan 11 Proposal, titled ‘Nudge City’, RIO Agency’s main goal was to build on a critical vision of sustainability as it is often promoted today. In their approach, the urban project cannot be a goal in itself. It has to be a frame of incentives, building on the territory’s ability to attract energies, leaning on individual aspirations to create a sustainable city. Nudges are sparks: public interventions which, designing one use, open way for a tree of possibilities. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The project is located in Saint-Jean, an area in the south of Clermont Ferrand, near the future TGV station. Affected by industrial decline, this place must look to another future. But it already possesses a rich present and a complex identity. Like any other area waiting for an ambitious urban project, the question is: how can we implement here a sustainable approach? Our answer is, at first, a design for sustainability.
