Revitelizing human and species mobility around the Maladière round-about
Our project focuses on rejuvenating human and species mobility around the Maladière roundabout in southwest Lausanne, near the lake. Our attention is directed towards three key animal groups of the dry subnetwrok: crawling species like lizards, small flying creatures such as pollinators, and larger flying animals like bats and pigeons. These creatures symbolize the three dimensions of mobility we aim to address and dynamise in a context of impass on the site of Lausanne’s Maladière. Each group has its complication when in proximity to roads. Crawling species like lizards are prone to be run over by ongoing traffic, as they like the heat produced by the asphalt. Small pollinators trying to reach green spaces around roads can be hit by cars and buses. Finally, bats and pigeons are also in a dangerous position trying to find shelter in the trees neighbouring the Maladière’s round-about. Traversing these different urban fabrics that are constintly close to the road is a real challenge for the animals and restrains their flow in the biological corridor.
The current roundabout structure and adjacent neighbourhoods obstructs the animals paths, creating a bottleneck situation that complicates their movement throughout the dry subnetwork. The current state of the Maladière roundabout is then to be questionned and a great challenge for us in our project to transform it into something else. The site being in southwest Lausanne, near the lake it serves as a crucial intersection between two dry subnetwork corridors: a descending corridor through the Vallée de la Jeunesse and a horizontal corridor adjacent to the lake. This location witnesses a significant presence of diverse species attempting to navigate the area.
Crawling Animals: Revitalizing existing underpasses and introducing more porous road coatings to facilitate the movement of crawling animals.
Small Flying Insects: Implementing a canopy of vegetation on nets above the road to guide and protect small flying insects.
Big Flying Animals: Adding shade sails above the road to provide shelter for flying animals, especially those sensitive to artificial light.
These layers are affixed to the existing pole system around Maladière, utilizing materials sourced from the soon-to-be-abandoned Sebeillon trainyard, including train rails and sleepers. The arrangement of rail blocks serves the dual purpose of reusing materials and functioning as speed bumps to slow down traffic.
These layers are affixed to the existing pole system around Maladière, utilizing materials sourced from the soon-to-be-abandoned Sebeillon trainyard, including train rails and sleepers. The arrangement of rail blocks serves the dual purpose of reusing materials and functioning as speed bumps to slow down traffic.
The layers converge around traffic islands, where we introduce downward extrusions creating safe havens for animals. These spaces are enhanced with concentrated food sources tailored to each species, such as wildflowers for pollinators and humidified areas to attract water insects for crawling and flying animals.This 3 layered system is then adapted according to the 3 different traffic island typology found on our site. These typologies are determined by human mobility.
In the first typology there is no interaction between the human mobility and the animals in their safe space. In the second typology, we connect our traffic island extrusion to the existing underpasses and extend the underpass to the center of the maladière. This dynamises the pedestrian mobility from east to west on our site, which didn’t exist before. Our 3rd typology is an extrusion of the southern traffic island that directly connects to the biggest existing underpass in the maladière. This typology is the biggest of all of our interventions and creates a rich place of interaction between our animals and pedestrians.
In summary, our design seeks to unite human and animal mobility at these meeting points, offering protection and separation for the animal journey amidst Maladière’s busy traffic. The project not only contributes to ecological conservation but also promotes a sustainable and harmonious coexistence of urban and natural elements.