Activation and pre-programming study for the conversion of the former Nantes School of Fine Arts, Saga + Socle + Ninon Bardet+ Vous + Soletdev + Gru + Quand même + Fichtre + Barreau Charbonnet + Bientôt + Massstab + Studio Bali + A côté + Collectif Supercali, finalist proposal not selected, 2024
In 2017, Nantes's School of Fine Arts moved from its downtown premises to the Ile de Nantes. Since then, this multi-secular complex of buildings dating back to the 15th century has become a kind of palimpsest lying fallow in the heart of the historic city. In 2024, the city of Nantes decided to transform the site, issuing a call for projects to create a place on two scales. On a local scale, the project will be an extension of the district, becoming a resource center for cultural, manual and political skills for its residents. But it will also be a place for the whole metropolis and its area of influence, as part of ongoing urban experiments such as Les Lieux à Réinventer. The project will be an opportunity to unite associations, partners, businesses and the city around a new centrality.
The la halte nantaise project is part of a twofold challenge: to pay particular attention to the local public, but also to propose a range of spaces that complement existing uses. To reconcile these two aspects of the project, the la halte nantaise is relying on a local, multidisciplinary team with previous experience of this type of project. Accustomed to working together in a collegial, happy and convivial way, this team, with its skills in project management, urban planning, programming, setting up cultural projects and managing the site, as well as graphic design, design, research, teaching, carpentry, locksmithing and others, is proposing a real mission to activate the site over a period of several months. Like a long-term residency, this initial activation prefigures the transformation of the site through the co-construction of a programme with the identified partners.
The proposal is to activate the former Ecole des Beaux-Arts as a temporal refuge in the city, an island of urban respite, a space where time intensifies without accelerating, a halt. This space will provide a synthesis of several temporalities in the many spaces available. The short-term nature of daily life and social emergencies meets the long-term nature of commitment and learning. To these two timeframes we can add the intermediate time of the project, whether artistic, cultural, educational or other.
Supercali Collective would have taken on the role of onsite permanent staff, acting as a link between the various players and spaces. A real caretaker and facilitator, this role is essential to open up the site to residents, associations, partners and other members of the team. This role would be accompanied by the task of documenting the processes and actions carried out, so that the approach can be archived for the project owner.
