Small but strong. With barely 15,000 inhabitants, Coulommiers was able to slip into the list of ten French cities selected to participate in the international architectural competition “Neighborhoods of tomorrow”. The town rubs shoulders with giants like Marseille (870,000 inhabitants) and Le Mans (145,000 inhabitants) which were also selected. The Cité Briarde is the second smallest town of the lot.
These are the Jean-de-la-Fontaine nursery school and Jehan-de-Brie elementary school in the very center of the Templiers district which will undergo a complete redevelopment. The whole represents 35 classes for 650 students. But how did the municipality of Coulommiers go about it? The question deserves to be asked all the more as Mayor Laurence Picard (Renaissance) explained that the application was submitted under difficult conditions. “We only had ten days to do it. A performance. »
On the town hall side, we put forward several reasons for this success. First, the city had already been working on this neighborhood and the school for a while, “which allowed us to provide a precise and complete application file.” The other argument is that the entire neighborhood will benefit from the architects’ thinking even if, concretely, it is only the schools that will be transformed. “There are challenges to improve the quality of life and strengthen the social diversity of the neighborhood. » Finally, the environmental aspect also contributed to the selection, “with the geothermal resource and the hemp sector nearby”. The Planète Chanvre company, which manufactures insulating materials in Aulnoy, is in fact only 4 km away.
“I was a minister for six years…”
An essential condition to be selected, the city had to host a priority district of the city policy (QPV). However, as the organizers of the operation recalled, “there are 1,400 QPVs in France, which represents 5 million inhabitants”. Many cities could therefore claim to be involved. Finally, thirty-five municipalities were preselected by regional prefects throughout France so that only ten remained.
The fact that the local MP, Franck Riester (Renaissance) was involved in the project, he who was for a time Minister of Foreign Trade, Relations with Parliament but also and above all Culture from 2018 to 2020, may also have helped to get the ball rolling. “I was a minister for six years! recalls the person concerned. The fact of having been in government and being an elected official at the national level makes things easier. As soon as the situation arises, I try to support and push the projects for Coulommiers as for the other municipalities in the conurbation. »
Architects struck by the size of spaces
The first stage of this architectural marathon, which will last a year, attracted 80 architects who came to test the waters, examine the premises and take photos. “There is a lot of potential even if the elements are disparate. The spaces are open. We are not used to working on such large spaces,” notes Émilia Phanhsy, who is more familiar with very small Parisian plots.
One of his colleagues, Olivier Fraisse, also appreciates “the large spaces of the site” but for his part deplores “the roads which are a little intrusive, too wide”. He immediately changes his mind, proof that the work of reflection has already begun for him. “These are spaces that we can imagine doing something with… I can see the project but… I’m not going to tell you too much about it because I would like to be selected! (laughs) »
Because the “Neighborhoods of Tomorrow” operation, launched in 2023 by Emmanuel Macron, is above all an architectural competition open to firms from around the world. To attract the most prestigious names, compensation of 150,000 euros will be awarded to each team, winning or not, by the State.
An unprecedented operation in a limited time
At the end of the visit to the district on this sunny November day, 80 applications from architects were registered in the Briarde city, for a total of 492 applications nationally. “It is the second site which attracted the most applications in France, after that of Corbeil-Essonnes! Great French and international agencies have applied,” enthuses Julien Moulard, deputy general director of the public interest group Europe of Architectural and Urban Projects (GIP EPAU) which is organizing the competition.
The other Ile-de-France project selected for the “Neighborhoods of Tomorrow” operation is located in Corbeil-Essonnes (Essonne), in Tarterêts, where the aim is to transform an old boiler room which resembles a modern cathedral into a cultural place.
One of the major characteristics of the operation, described as “unprecedented”, “is the limited time”. In a year, we will know the winner and work will begin immediately. The cost of these, on the other hand, will be paid by the Coulommiers town hall.
Whatever the project or the city, for Julien Moulard, the philosophy of this architectural competition where three firms will be selected per municipality before the final, remains the same: “Thinking about the neighborhoods of tomorrow. Ask yourself what a school, a cultural or commercial center will be like in 2050. » Coulommiers has a meeting with the future.
Related News :