The Insectarium's transformation project proposes the creation of a "living" ecosystem in continuity with that of the future Grand Place of the Espace pour la vie and the Botanical Garden: an environment populated by insects, birds, plants and humans that meet and interact. The reconfiguration of the Insectarium's forecourt will create a true public space for exchange and gathering, at the heart of the institutional complex.
The transformation of the Insectarium is the transformation of the skin of the existing building to put it in relation with the outside. It is also the intensification of the existing landscaped environment to make it a place conducive to insect feeding and habitat, as well as to increased visitor occupation. It is the transformation of the existing museography into a new pathway that connects the human with the insects, the exterior with the interior, and integrates nature, art, knowledge and technology. Through a weaving of architecture, landscape and museography, the project stages the extraordinary world of insects and humans in a living environment that promotes their reconnection.
We propose the growth and transformation of the existing building in concentric layers. The existing building remains at the heart of the project. Its original form and opacity are maintained and continue to house and protect the impressive collection of naturalized insects in the perceptual spaces. A glass case encloses the existing building, anchoring it to the site and opening it to the outside. The new transparent skin of the building invites visitors to enter the redesigned reception areas, reveals the teeming life in the immersive greenhouse, the activities in the creative and school workshops and, on the upper floor, the production of the horticultural and butterfly greenhouses. New landscaped extensions - a flower meadow, a parvis evoking a tablecloth, mounds, an insect hotel, a vegetated valley serving as an insect pond, an urban permaculture area, and a butterfly garden - which tie in with the existing insect courtyard, encourage human encounters with insects while extending the building outwards. Coupled with the new indoor living environments, the Insectarium territory becomes an all-encompassing immersive space, conducive to experiences for the senses and to the discovery of insects by visitors.
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The project is built around the existing building and is characterized by a juxtaposition of distinct glazed volumes housing the major functions of PFT and the creation of a public plaza at the existing entrance:
- The integration of all elements of the PFT, including the existing amenities are considered in the proposal.
- The proposal, with its compact form, responds well to the PFT and the desired functional organization; the organizational party, which is more of an agency, proposes a clear imposed circuit, facilitating orientation.
- The architectural party is linked as an addition of functions and forms and not as a complete gesture integrating form and function.
- The concept described elaborates a series of innovative ideas, such as the "insect hotel" but disappointing in terms of their integration into a coherent whole; some forms are anecdotal.
- The scenographic and museological aspect is poorly developed.
- The public square and its concept of a multi-media picnic table turns its back on the Botanical Garden and proposes an urban rather than a landscape reading.
- The experience generated by the spaces and the architecture does not produce a strong identity, nor the emotion essential to the immersion in the world of insects.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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