Metabolism as a theoretical imaginary for an urban experiment: the case of the study “Champs-Elysées - History & perspectives” - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2022

Metabolism as a theoretical imaginary for an urban experiment: the case of the study “Champs-Elysées - History & perspectives”

Résumé

Parisian architecture firm PCA-STREAM has been pursuing a conceptual and reflexive approach and a dialogue with research laboratories, notably the GERPHAU . It led them to elaborate on the theoretical concept of "metabolism-city" (“ville-métabolisme”). In PCA’s acceptation of it, "metabolism-city" addresses the holistic understanding of urban complexity. It is based on a synergy between practices and knowledges upstream of the design projects, so as to integrate ecological systemic issues into urban practice (Haëntjens, J. & Lemoine, S. ; 2015). The fragmentation of urban projects, they argue, prevents urban makers from producing adequate responses in facing Anthropocene (Chiambaretta, P. ; 2018 in D’Arenzio, Younès, ed. ; 2018) and global urbanization challenges (Véron, J. ; 2006). This imaginary of urban metabolism seeks to hold this systemic complexity at the very heart of the projects. It urges to conduct them in a constant search for synergy among the various answers proposed. This method was put into practice through a demonstrative project conducted at the scale of the Champs-Elysées avenue (Chiambaretta, P., & Labasse, A., 2019). By investigating the making of the Champs-Elysées urban study, this paper examines how the imaginary of metabolism performed while being turned into an experiment of urban design for the Champs-Elysée avenue. It shows how it allowed a systemic vision of the project replace a processed one, and what it produced in terms of methodology, reshaping a practice. The paper first clarifies the specificities of the metabolic metaphor as PCA-STREAM appropriated it for the study, drawing from Sabine Barles’ (Barles S. ; 2002) and Nussaume’s approaches using the notion of milieu (Nussaume Y. ; 2018). By enlisting urban metabolism as a structuring concept for developing an urban vision applied to an avenue, PCA-STREAM pioneered a new scale of application. It then investigates the development of the study as a succession of unlocking steps performed by protagonists, both internal to PCA and among the partners involved, for whom this approach was new. The way they translated this imaginary into something that was not an actual project, but a vision projected onto a territory, first destabilizing, turned out very organic. Precisely because it was not about designing a project, the agency had no choice but to turn the imaginary into a methodology. The resulting approach showed two main features. First, it was based on the use and promotion of various sets of data, exploited to produce indicators and metrics that could be cross-analysed. Second, it brought into the study an ecosystem of third parties and experts expected to abound with their knowledge and capacity to engage into collective intelligence processes. Some subjects yet resisted the datafication process (Mayer-Schonberger V. & Cukier K. ; 2013). The paper explores in more detail the way the study dealt with the living world and biodiversity. It acted on the landscape as a milieu (Bercq A. ; 2000, 2017) rather than an aesthetic decoration exemplifying an idea of power and domination (Santini C. ; 2019) or planning for a specific development of greenery. The ambition was to offer the conditions needed for nature to expand and adapt to its new terrain and uncertainty. By doing so, it demonstrated that, when pushed to its limits, the metabolic approach can go beyond the only rationalization through indicators and measures, allowing for a more emergent project dynamic. References: Barles, S. (2002). “Le métabolisme urbain et la question écologique”, Annales de la recherche urbaine, 92/9, p143-150. Bercque, A., (2000). Ecoumène- Introduction à l´étude des milieux humains, Belin, Paris, 272 p. Bercque, A. (2017). “La mésologie : une remise en cause du dualisme sujet / objet qui fonde les sciences modernes”, Stream 04, Paris : PCA Editions. Accessible en ligne : https://www.pca-stream.com/fr/auteurs/augustin-berque-104 Chiambaretta, P. (2018). “Dynamiques synergétiques des métabolismes urbains”, in D’Arienzo, R et Younès, C (2018), Synergies urbaines : pour un métabolisme collectif des villes. Genève : Métis Presses, 141-157. Chiambaretta, P., Labasse, A., (ed.) (2020). Champs-Élysées, histoire & perspectives. Paris : éditions du Pavillon de l’Arsenal, PCA Editions. Haëntjens, J., & Lemoine, S. (2015). L'éco-urbanisme: Défis planétaires, solutions urbaines. Montréal : Les Editions Ecosociété. Mayer-Schonberger, V., & Cukier, K. (2013). Big data: A revolution that will change how we live, work and think. London: John Murray. Nussaume, Y. (2018). Introduction. Dans : Marie Augendre éd., La mésologie, un autre paradigme pour l’anthropocène : Autour et en présence d'Augustin Berque (pp. 149-152). Paris : Hermann. Santini, C. (2019). “Poursuivre une histoire vivante” in Chiambaretta, P., Labasse, A.,(ed) (2020). Champs-Élysées, histoire & perspectives. Paris : éditions du Pavillon de l’Arsenal, PCA Editions. Véron, J. (2006). L’urbanisation du monde. Paris: La Découverte.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-04395349 , version 1 (15-01-2024)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04395349 , version 1

Citer

Leone-Alix Mazaud. Metabolism as a theoretical imaginary for an urban experiment: the case of the study “Champs-Elysées - History & perspectives”. Metabolism Studies Symposium: Materiality & Relationality in the Anthropocene, Studio métabolisme, École urbaine de Lyon, Jun 2022, Lyon, France. ⟨hal-04395349⟩
17 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Mastodon Facebook X LinkedIn More