About the project
The project began with an analysis of the urban impact of the Vanne aqueduct for my master thesis, a machine that brings drinking water to Paris. In Ris-Orangis, the aqueduct emerged at the site of an abandoned racecourse. It is separated from the city center by major transportation infrastructures such as the highway and the RER line. Moreover, it is integrated into the closed perimeter of the racecourse, which prevents any view of the aqueduct. The most important infrastructures of the racecourse are still present and dominate the landscape with wild vegetation that made its richness. The project exploits the large-scale territorial dimension given by the transport infrastructures to give a new recreational space to the population of "Le grand Paris", to show the presence of the aqueduct with the water, but also to develop and protect a wild landscape that would develop in the island. The interventions use the richness of the site and also the materials offered by this one as the excavated ground and the water of the aqueduct. Canals are dug where visitors would circulate by pedal boat. A large expanse of water celebrates the meeting of this crowd and theatricalizes the ancient tribune. Alcoves, the only moments of insertion in the wilderness, allow bathing more intimately.
Finally, a quay is built linking the entrance square and the old stands. The water thus reveals hidden urban relations and connects the old equestrian infrastructure and the hydraulic.
