After fifteen months of work and a bill approaching 8 million euros, a stadium and a gymnasium were inaugurated this Wednesday, November 6 at La Duranne. The ensemble bears the name of the former Aix football player and coach of the French team Henri Michel, who died in April 2018 at the age of 70, honored again in the presence of French internationals such as Michel Platini.
The project to create a sports complex in the Duranne district was voted on in early June 2018 by the municipal council of the city of Aix-en-Provence, just a few weeks after the death of one of the country's children, Henri Michael.
Six and a half years have passed, it took fifteen months of work to see this immense sports plain come out of the ground. Today, what could be more normal to attach the name of the former silky player of the 70s then coach of the French team (Olympic champion in 1984 in Los Angeles, 3e of the world cup 86) ?
The 2000 m² complex was unveiled this Wednesday, November 6, in the presence of some 400 people, including many prestigious players: Michel Platini, Jean Tigana, Patrick Cubyanes, Albert Rust, Guy Lacombe, Luis Fernandez, Dominique Bijotat, but also his deputy on the sidelines, Henri Emile.
A tribute to Henri Michel, legend of Aix football
Designed by Aix-based architect Christophe Gulizzi, it was designed with a multidisciplinary vocation. There is a gymnasium including a grandstand and an indoor climbing wall, a room dedicated to dance and combat sports, as well as a synthetic turf for American football and 8-a-side football, as well as three corridors. athletics, outdoors.
“It was a highly anticipated piece of equipment at Duranne, explains Sophie Joissains, the mayor (UDI) of Aix-en-Provence, about the latest addition to Aix's peripheral districts, which now has 10,000 inhabitants. We dedicate it to an extraordinary character from Aix, who aroused respect and admiration. Henri Michel was an exceptional sportsman with absolutely unique talent and charisma. He is a monument of French sport, but also a child of the country who left a profound legacy. »
The prelude to a morning of renewed tributes to the man who was rightly considered the star of French football of the 1970s, trained in Aix, passed through the ASA in D2 before spending his entire playing career in Division 1 at FC Nantes, winning three French championship titles.
An ode to otherness
If the Aix player stood out for his class and elegance in the midfield position, this multidisciplinary sports complex which bears his name stands out with its geographical positioning like no other, and its building in raw concrete, natural wood and stone. in facing.
Nestled between scrubland and rockery, it was imagined “like a link in the window on the departmental road between the two urban sectors of the village district” of the Duranne, describes Éric Chevalier, the president of Semepa, the mixed economy equipment company of the country of Aix.
The architect, Christophe Gulizzi, happily played the collective card by detailing the process of his creation: “Architecture becomes an ode to otherness. Sport and culture share essential values, high standards, excellence, the quest for the perfect gesture, and notions of transcendence too. And let’s not forget beauty.”
He had to face “multiple issues, both architectural, environmental and of course memorial, in honor of Henri Michel”. Christophe Gulizzi did it “a link between the city and nature. Visible and discreet, it is a continuation of the Duranne park, embedded in the valley and nestled in the scrubland with its green roof. He describes the complex as a “generously glazed setting, so that natural light reveals itself as the predominant element of our concept”.
Equipment for local clubs and young athletes
While young budding footballers from the AUC were able to carry out some shooting exercises, with Luis Fernandez as a luxury educator not hesitating to get their shirts wet, several clubs will take up residence in this western district of Aix: the Argonautes (football US) will come to train, but for the moment will have to continue to play their matches at the stadium, while waiting to have a stand directly carved into the rock) with more than 1000 seats, or even the handball players of the UPABHB (Union Aix Bouc-Bel-Air).
“This tool meets a need and will relieve congestion in other stadiums and gymnasiums,” explains Francis Taulan, the Aix Sports deputy. It may be pretentious, but I can certify it: we have become the most sporting city in the metropolis, with nearly 400 clubs. »
If the Covid has extended delivery times and increased the bill (estimated at 7.5 and 8 million euros), this complex is now well established. Eric Chevalier, the president of Semepa and also first deputy to the city of Aix, expressed a wish, to conclude: “May this exceptional setting give rise to vocations and a taste for sport.”
