Manifesto City Mulhouse
200best ES
Lacaton & Vassal
2005
Type
Collective dwelling
Tags
energy sustainability, social housing , climatic machines, 200Best
Visitability
Allowed
Description
La Cité Manifeste is part of a social housing project promoted by the local government of Mulhouse, in France. The aim of the project was to build housing that would offer a better surface and spatial quality without increasing costs, for which five architectural studios put their creativity to the test in the search for such a solution. The houses designed by Lacaton & Vassal achieved this through the use of industrial and prefabricated materials. The ground floor features a concrete frame supported by regular pillars, above which rises another prefabricated structure housing a series of greenhouses. This structure is made of galvanised steel, while the enclosure is made of transparent polycarbonate. The first floor determines the maximum occupiable space. The studio used passive techniques to condition the interior space, which is partly insulated and partly unenclosed, but whose temperature is regulated. These techniques are known as ‘winter garden’, a concept that the French architects will use on other projects. Both the project approach and the aesthetics achieved, with the structure of the greenhouse made of transparent polycarbonate as a major visual element, have had a great influence on contemporary architecture, especially in terms of the search for an aesthetic associated with bioclimatic architecture.