MVRDV selected to envision 300ha port refurbishment in Caen, France

Today the City of Caen, France, announced the architecture teams to work on the refurbishment of a 300ha old industrial area and port, the Caen Peninsula (Presqu’ile de Caen). MVRDV and two other teams have been selected to collaborate for the coming four years on a vision of the future of the capital of Basse-Normandie in the French Departement Calvados.

Caen was destroyed during the Second World War and has been restored since, the Presqu’ile project is considered its second restoration. The 300ha Presqu’ile de Caen is located between the city centre and the sea and occupied by industrial structures among which some industrial monuments. MVRDV joined forces with French architect Diagram experienced in the site, landscape architect Territoires and engineering firm IOSIS. The project is a vision of the future based on research and for this the team also comprises of Swiss sociologist Philippe Cabane and Pro-Developpement, a company specialist in development strategy. According to Le Moniteur the city has selected the three offices in a strategic mix: MVRDV was chosen for its innovative urbanism and involvement in Grand Paris, Djamel Klouche with SLETH for the Copenhagen port extension and François Leclercq for his involvement in the Euromediterranee project in Marseille. MVRDV is currently involved in the Atelier du Grand Paris envisioning the future of the French Capital. In Bordeaux MVRDV is working on the transformation of the industrial site Bastide Niel into an urban district with 2600 homes and facilities.

About MVRDV
MVRDV was set up in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. MVRDV engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A research based and highly collaborative design method engages experts from all fields, clients and stakeholders in the creative process. The results are exemplary and outspoken buildings, urban plans, studies and objects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future. Early projects such as the headquarters for the Dutch Public Broadcaster VPRO and housing for elderly WoZoCo in Amsterdam lead to international acclaim. MVRDV develops its work in a conceptual way, the changing condition is visualised and discussed through designs, sometimes literally through the design and construction of a diagram. The office continues to pursue its fascination and methodical research on density using a method of shaping space through complex amounts of data that accompany contemporary building and design processes. MVRDV first published a cross section of these study results in FARMAX (1998), followed by a.o. MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), and more recently Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007). MVRDV deals with global ecological issues in large scale studies such as Pig City as well as in small pragmatic solutions for devastated areas of New Orleans. Current projects include various housing projects in the Netherlands, Spain, China, France, the United Kingdom, USA, India, Korea and other countries, a bank headquarter in Oslo, Norway, a public library for Spijkenisse , Netherlands, a central market hall for Rotterdam, a culture plaza in Nanjing, China, large scale urban plans include a plan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain, an urban vision for the doubling in size of Almere, Netherlands and Grand Paris, the vision of a post-Kyoto Greater Paris region. The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published world wide and receives international awards. The 60 architects, designers and staff members conceive projects in a multi-disciplinary collaborative design process and apply highest technological and sustainable standards. Together with Delft University of Technology MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing argument for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.

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