Valibout NeighbourhoodPlaisir (78)

In the heart of Plaisir, between the Aqueduct promenade and the sports park, the Valibout neighbourhood reads like an inhabited park. Its buildings stand in wide stretches of lawn beneath already generous trees, and people move about on foot from one square to the next, with the woodlands to the south on the horizon. The project starts from this quality: recognising Valibout as an "archipelago" city, made of urban and landscape pieces which, like islands, gain from being linked together while keeping their own character.

Landscape becomes the thread that weaves these islands together. A woodland edge of tall-stemmed trees, gathered in groves, follows the boundaries of the neighbourhood: their slender trunks let the eye travel freely at eye level, and the edge extends southwards the connection with the Sainte-Apolline, Clayes and Arcy woods. Inside, four planting languages give each space its own voice: regular avenues along the north-south axes linking the Valibout park to the sports park; freer, quieter rows of two or three species along the east-west streets; and groves of varied species and heights in the squares and plazas, offering shade, coolness and calm to residents.

Rue Maximilien Robespierre, the backbone of the neighbourhood, is strengthened as a major landscape link between the Aqueduct promenade and the sports park, connecting schools, public facilities and gardens. Valibout's pedestrian character, so dear to its residents, is preserved: streets become calm, lined with space for walking and cycling, and a network of gentle paths reaches the large open spaces. To the south, the opening onto the sports park and the wider landscape is kept and enhanced.

The hearts of the residential blocks, more clearly shaped, become restful gardens for residents, while soft, planted boundaries between public and private spaces keep the neighbourhood open. A neighbourhood that remains a park, and opens further onto its town.