City CenterSaint-Julien-en-Genevois (74)

Saint-Julien-en-Genevois is part of the archipelago city situated at the French Swiss border, surrounded by countryside and living in harmony with Geneva. It extends far beyond its municipal boundaries, benefiting from its cross-border connection with Switzerland and its proximity to the Swiss capital. Originally a street village, it served as a gateway to the neighboring country. This historical configuration is now outdated. By redesigning the city center, the project reimagines the concept of a "medium-sized city" by exploring its form and its relationship with both the countryside and the nearest large city.

Saint-Julien enjoys a unique geographical and geological location. The city center is situated on a pass, a point of transition between the wet valley and the agricultural plain, at the junction of two ridgelines. This strategic position provides very comfortable living conditions: access to a potable water reserve, connections to major railways and highways, and a vantage point offering views to the north toward the Jura mountains and to the south toward the Salève. The project highlights these qualities, ensuring the city’s prominence within the larger landscape.

With the arrival of the tram from Geneva in 2025, the city has an opportunity to rethink traffic flow and parking. The circulation plan has been revised, with shared zones created and some parcels restructured.

Recognizing the abundance of small, poorly organized public spaces, often dominated by car usage, the project reconstructs a coherent network and designs new buildable areas that define the boundaries of these newly created spaces. Like a set of Russian dolls, the planning of these spaces encourages reflection on the coherence of the city center, questioning its form and limits.

The city center of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois thus transforms into a new postcard scene: a place for social interaction, a theater of urban life that evolves with the rhythm of the day and the changing seasons.