The town planning call for proposals for the Des Restanques area near the arena in Montpellier offered an opportunity for atelierphilippemadec to try out the principle of a ‘bio-islet’.
Mobility is a key factor in the cities we have inherited from past eras. Everyday life requires us to move around, often wasting time doing so, sometimes even wasting lifetimes, as is the case for those who, in order to earn a pittance in the city centre, spend over a third of their day in return trips between their suburban homes and their workplaces. A more desirable town would reduce time spent on in necessary travel in order not to waste people’s time and money and in a wanton waste of energy. It would be built around a pool of mixed local activities, concentrated and complete, in a logic of proximity, which would transform distances from spatial to temporal.
