DIS/ ASSEMBLE : a monument to progressive deconstruction
Meryl Barthe
/Noémie Perregaux-Dielf
n light of the energy transition, the Chavalon power plant is a ruin that bears witness to the decentralization of power production in Switzerland, and a case study of ten infrastructures from the 20th century that will be obsolete over the next decades. Built in 1965, and closed in 1999, it was then purchased speculatively in 2017 at a guaranteed price of destruction by the Orllati Group. Since then, the site has come to a standstill due to the municipality’s opposition to developer projects despite its limited means to take care of the site. DIS/ ASSEMBLE investigates the obsolete power plant as what is commonly referred to as a Negative Common – a negative resource our generation will inherit. The project’s priority is to offer a vision highlighting our shared responsibility for the site; by proposing its progressive dismantling, re-use and care. Being about process and interactions, a sensible itinerary for its end-of-life is organised with a gradual return to nature, as promised in 1965. The site opens to the public, sanitation and deconstruction begin and the main vacant building is transformed into a re-use center processing and storing the material on site. In this operation, the moment of the boiler’s dismantling leaves the facade of the re-use center open. It makes room for an architectural gesture: a temporary facade in re-used steel that becomes the mediator between the worksite and the public. A monument to deconstruction and visual indicator of the unmaking, remaking, and maintenance of the growing parc.
Files
LINKS
- Consultable sur demande à la Bibliothèque de l'EPFL / Offered in consultation at the EPFL Library:
epfl.ch/campus/library/fr/domaines/architecture-urbanisme/ - Infoscience:
infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/d822f9c0-4f43-40f6-ad01-d4899bc5694e
Team
Infos
Theoretical statement
Housewifization: An Iconographical Study [Titre énoncé M. Barthe avec Prof. Aureli] Qu'allons-nous faire de vous? Au-delà de l'obsolescence: réinterpréter et intégrer les infrastructures énergétiques dans notre histoire collective [Titre énoncé N. Perregeaux-Dielf avec Prof. Nichols]