Lyons renewal

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 1997 by Martin Meade

Some brash pedestrianisation had been introduced in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Presqu'ile, above the new metro line down to Perrache. And, as early as 1964, Lyons designated its mediaeval and Renaissance core a secteur sauvegarde - one of the first conservation areas in France. If its rehabilitation, completed in the 1970s, had the merit of principally providing social housing above cafes and shops, restoration standards were rather coarse and indulgence in a Mediterranean pink tan 'heritage' colour scheme soon spread like a bad rash over new and old buildings throughout the conurbation.

As to the distinctive value of Lyons' eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century townscapes, or indeed of the pioneering rationalist public buildings Tony Garnier contributed to his native city, they were overlooked in the enthusiasm such schemes as the vast 'downtown' redevelopment around the new station at La Part Dieu anticipating the opening of the Paris TGV line (the first in France), or the hulking transport interchange ploughed into Perrache station and its nineteenth-century surroundings. The 1978 schema directeur (strategic development plan) was imbued with such singleminded technocratic optimism and was rapidly overtaken by post-industrial upheaval and social tension. It was fundamentally reviewed by Lyons' Agence d'Urbanisme between 1985 and 1988.

New priorities, and potential areas for protection, improvement or development were identified, and the process culminated in the Plan Bleu - a prototype townscape enhancement strategy for the city's embankments and their hinterland. This spadework was a boom to the new generation of politicians who took over the centre-right majority in the 1989 municipal elections.

During the 1990s, Greater Lyons(1) has built up a reputation for the programme of soft and hard townscape improvement schemes that have been implemented successfully throughout the metropolis. This proliferating crop of new or refurbished squares, gardens, parks, planted walks and quayside promenades, completed by transport and parking infrastructures, a lighting plan, a range of street furniture and an elevational palette, has been generated by an integrated approach to urban design.

Building on the experience of the Agence d'Urbanisme and extending its remit while eschewing recall to a masterplanner or architect, the incoming administration created a small and vigorous team to coordinate policies and manage townscape and landscape projects throughout Greater Lyons. The team promptly formulated ground rules for drawing up and scheduling briefs, and soon established a steering group bringing together representatives of the relevant authorities, services, associations, and other concerned parties. Combined with the re-organisation of traffic circulation and bus routes, priority was given to the creation of underground car parks in the historic centre as a prerequisite for rendering such squares as the Place des Terreaux, the Place de la Republique or the Place des Celestins accessible once more to pedestrians. The city created a Societe d'Economie Mixte for this purpose, in which it is a majority shareholder.

At the same time, a test bed was set up in the public car park behind La Part Dieu station, to research and select appropriate materials for surfacing and paving. Following the 1990 competition for new street furniture, urban lighting and signage designs, various models by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and a set of organic lamp standards by Jourda and Perraudin were chosen. By these means, a whole range of prototypes was accumulated, from different patterns of granite kerbs, paving slabs or cobble stones, to seating and bollards, for the public to see and try out. As a result, a design guide and catalogue of components and finishes has been assembled and modified, to meet specific requirements.

Lyon 2010, the new schema directeur strategy for the conurbation, was finalised in 1992, incorporating the previous Plan Bleu and adding a Plan Vert to protect or extend open spaces and parks, a Plan Couleur providing an urban palette, a Plan Lumiere governing urban lighting and a plan conceived specifically for the historic centre, the Mission Presqu'ile.

Initially, a target of 10 projects a year was envisaged, yet by the end of 1990, 24 were already on the boil. The renovation of 43 sites out of 100 had been completed by 1993, since when the total has risen to some 150. Around 25 have been undertaken on such vast outlying housing estates as the very tough Quartier Darnaise in Les Minguettes at Venissieux, where the landscape architect Alexandre Chemetoff has planned what amounts to an urban project in restructuring, and giving definition and identity to the vast windswept spaces between tower blocks, working in conjunction with the rehabilitation and social development programme conceived for the estate. The street lighting and urban furniture here is by Wilmotte.

Other such cases include the Parilly quartier at Bron, where E. Jalbert-In Situ among other landscape practices have been working on a new layout around the commercial centre, to federate disparate elements, while also providing protective landscaping along the boundary with the motorway, and similar objectives have been pursued by Alain Marguerit at the Quartier Saint-Jean in Villeurbanne.