La Promenade des Crêtes - Praille Acacias Vernets (PAV)

Up!

The Up! project clearly acknowledges the diversity of atmospheres and the multiplicity of connectivity issues associated with the site as a whole and with the location’s topography.

Along the route, it proposes certain eye-catching features that are particularly sensitive to the existing and future context, notably the preservation and development of the existing buildings (Surville, Town Hall), maintaining the vegetable gardens, integrating the wet area in the SOVALP district, the link it seeks to establish between the Promenade des Crêtes and the future square by the CEVA railway station, and in the creation of the ‘Bowl de la boucle’ turnback for trams, to mention just a few.

This great attention to detail of individual situations is complemented by the counterpoint of the main thread of the ‘raised line’ that seeks to establish the scheme’s overall continuity in all its various cross-sections which are a function of its relationship with the terrain and the ground. This common thread, which is perhaps excessively didactic, also begs the question of its beginning and end, since the Promenade is connected to other longer-distance routes.

The project also highlights two opportunities for new public spaces : the esplanade of the Parc de Pesay, and the terracing between the Parc de la Mairie in Lancy and the site of the new school in the heart of the SOVALP district. The esplanade in Pesay raises the question of the substantial resources required to meet a project ambition that is secondary in terms of priority, whereas the space between the Town Hall and the school, though commendable in its intentions, is in danger of being compromised by the design and layout of the school itself, which is the subject of a competition.

Up! also highlights the difficulties posed by major breaks in topography: the series of ramps along Avenue Eugène-Lance and the escarpment close to the railway tunnel entrance. The proposals for bridging these two major differences in height constitute the project’s weak points. The series of ramps constructed beneath Eugène-Lance seems disproportionate, whereas the railway embankment would allow a gentler approach to be used ; at the other end, the design of the ramp running alongside the CFF railway track, followed by an elevated bend and finally a zigzag configuration within the wooded embankment, seems excessively complex within the sequence of the various parts.

Overall, the Jury liked the proposed avenues of appropriation and noted the sensitivity and quality of the thinking involved.