BASTION SAINT-ANTOINE

Project description

The competition requirements were to design a museum for the archaeological remains at Bastion-Saint Antoine and to organize the public space around the museum.

The new public space interacts with two main public axes: it lies on the first axis, which connects the XIXth century city to the Old City through the Art&History Museum and the Place Bourg-de-Four, and it is crossed by the second axis, which leads from Plainpalais to Rive and the lake via Promenade Saint-Antoine and Lycée Calvin.

The public space is organized to take account of different users and uses.

A tree-lined promenade emphasizes the strip along Boulevard Emile-Jaques-Dalcroze and dialogues with Promenade Saint-Antoine and the Parc de l’Observatoire; a lowered polyfunctional square brings the archaeological remains closer and is a natural stage for the steps leading to the lawned Belvedere, where it is possible to picnic with a view of the lake; the entrance to the underground Museum forms the boundary of the square, and the urban lighthouse highlights the remains lying underneath.

Public paths connect all these different levels with the city, creating a complex space of relations and hierarchies.

Public paths run right through the museum, connecting both the different parts of the city and the different levels of the museum itself, offering pedestrians a succession of glimpses of the latter.