MURMURES 2nd place – 2nd prize

Single-stage open competition: development of a promenade and water access for bathing at Quai Wilson. Our proposal highlights the main quality of the existing Quai Wilson space, i.e. its unity and the view it offers, on a geographical scale, over the great landscape of Lake Geneva. The chosen option is to “sublimate” the existing wall by levelling the promenade at the top level of the wall. Interpreting this heritage structure by giving it the main role, the wall is transformed from a boundary into a line that underlines the landscape. The entire cross-section of the quay is unified and mobilized to become the lakeside promenade, extended by stone steps that provide equal access to the water throughout the sequence. The planting, which creates a series of alcoves and copses, gives depth to the promenade, and differentiates the possible appropriations in the thickness of the quay to the lake, in counterpoint to the regularity of the steps.