Southern France riverbank projects in Montpellier and Perpignan: from designed space to interpreted space

Abstract

This examination of recent landscape architecture interventions along two rivers in southern France—the River Lez in Montpellier and the River Têt in Perpignan—questions the popular notion of ‘intervening in space’. Observing the features of the interventions and their consequences, the author investigates whether a change of paradigm occurs with regard to the approach employed. The results of this analysis demonstrate an evolution in the role of the landscape professional, who now seeks to translate or interpret a space rather than to act upon it materially. Pertinent tasks comprise not only installation in the sense of designing or bringing order to space, but also producing communications about the site. The landscape architect aims, at at a local scale, to persuade the community to accept the existing space (notably using a discourse on the values of natural and cultural heritage); and at a territorial scale, to use the riverbanks, and more generally the idea of the river, to restructure or give coherence to the city. Finally, this river intervention approach produces either conceptual pieces (such as reports, maps, films, animation) or minimal changes for ambitious infrastructural projects.

• Communication tools
• conceptual design
• Montpellier and Perpignan
• riverbank projects
• landscape practices

Notes

1 Perpignan (Communauté d'agglomération et Conseil Général) (2004), “Étude globale sur le bassin versant de la Têt, phase I: étude et diagnostic, et phase II: diagnostic et propositions d'objectifs”, unpublished internal study, 222.

2 Pous, P. and Franch, M. (2006), “Aménagement des berges de la Têt à Perpignan”, unpublished draft, 35.

3 Ville de Montpellier (2007), ‘Travaux de réaménagement des berges de Lavalette dans le cadre de l'opération “Lez vert”’, press kit, March 2007, 6.

4 Communauté d'agglomération de Montpellier (2010), ‘Le Lez est sauvé’ and ‘Environnement: les paysages du Lez deviennent intouchables', La Gazette de Montpellier 1131, Feb. 2010; and Communauté d'agglomération de Montpellier (2006), ‘Excursion au bord du Lez vert’, Harmonie, le magazine d'information de Montpellier Agglomération 232, Sept. 2006.

5 Tricot, C. (2006), La Têt, un courant de nature dans la ville, film commissioned by the Perpignan-Méditerranée local authorities association, 33 min.

6 Ville de Montpellier (2007), ‘Travaux de réaménagement des berges de Lavalette dans le cadre de l'opération “Lez vert”’, op. cit. note 3.

7 Conseil en Architecture Urbanism and Environnement des Pyrénées orientales (1995), “Parcours d'eau: la Têt et Perpignan, un vaste parc urbain au fil de l'eau”, 45 pages; Ville de Montpellier (1990), “Aménagement du Lez vert, entre les limites nord de la commune et le pont de l'Auberou”, unpublished internal study, 56.

8 Expressions used in ‘Aménagement du Lez vert, entre les limites nord de la commune et le pont de l'Auberou’, op. cit. note 7.

9 Idem.

10 Pous, P. and Franch, M. (2006), “Aménagement des berges de la Têt”, op. cit., note 2; 4-6. Sources of illustrations 2, 9, and 17: City of Montpellier, Landscape and Nature Department.

Additional information

Biographical note

Fanny Romain is a lecturer at the Angers National Institute of horticulture and Landscape (Agrocampus ouest, France). Following studies in applied arts and contemporary literature, she was awarded a DPLG in Landscape Architecture (2007) from the École Nationale Supérieure du Paysage de Versailles and a doctorate in Landscape Architecture Sciences (2010) from AgroParisTech. her present research, carried out within the CNRS ‘Spaces and Societies’ laboratory, focuses on meta-analyses of projects elaborated by landscape architects: their goals, their procedures, and the forms adopted.