H2o Architects

Familistere Guise

FAMILISTERE GUISE

H2o Architectes

Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau

ARCHITECTS
h2o architectes

CATEGORY
Public Space, Square

LOCATION
Homblières, France

PHOTOGRAPHS
Stéphane Chalmeau

AREA
40000.0 m²

YEAR
2014

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Michel Desvigne Paysagiste

EXTERIOR INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEER
France Aires

STRUCTURE ENGINEER
HDA

SPECIFICITY
Classified Site for Historical Monuments

COST
3 000 000 € HT

CLIENT
Syndicat Mixte du Familistère Godin and SEDA : Société d’Equipement du Département de l’Aisne

Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau

The Familistère is a vast housing complex founded by Jean-Baptiste André Godin in 1859 in relation with the stove manufacturing business.

Until 1968, this Social Palace was the theatre of a unique social experimentation in the industrial world: 

Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau

the Familistère was a sort of utopia for an industrial society composed like an urban transition between the town and the park of the city island nearby.

The development suggested by the agency respects three fundamental themes: unity of place, heritage and experimentation.

The project establishes a new readability of the site by creating a new sense of unity between its different existing parts.

Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau

The great mineral square in the centre for example creates a new tension between the different buildings and reactivates the original axial planning.

At the heart of the site, a series of thematic “islands” at a reduced scale allow for an easy and constantly renewed use.

Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau

The program of events on these « thematic islands » is open to constant improvisation and experimentation, echoing Godin’s philosophy about invention and incompletion.


Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
Original Park
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau


Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau
Familistere Guise
© Stéphane Chalmeau


Familistere Guise
Signage
Familistere Guise
Furniture
Familistere Guise
Detail Axonometric


Familistere Guise
Sketch
Familistere Guise
Sketch


Familistere Guise
Master Plan
Familistere Guise
Floor Plan

H2o Architects
T +33 9 64005281 F +33 1 44549164
H2o Architects
10 Cité d'Angoulême, 75011 Paris, France