In this research and workshop, we focused on the transformation process of the Rives du Lac, the waterfront area of the city of Yverdon-les-Bains (Suisse Romande).
We went back in time, to the “corrections” of water in the Jura mountains in 1868. Necessary because the area along the shores of the lake flooded regularly, the correction resulted in the city 'gaining' land of up to 400 meters along its shores. We studied how this new waterfront resulted in a deterioration of Yverdon’s historical relationship to the water. Most of the population of Yverdon see their city as a ville d’eau, but paradoxically they feel that the water isn’t visible enough in the city, although several attempts to restore the relationship have recently been made.
We drew the original shoreline of the Neuchâtel lake ín the present situation and walked, together with the workshop participants, ‘along the line’. Although the original shoreline is no longer visible, it is particularly along this line that we found divergent realities intersect: industries and residential areas, paved roads and green fields, but also vacant buildings, closed or dead-end roads, and hard walls between the Rives du Lac and the city center.
The workshop was accompanied by lectures and activities to stimulate the discussion and expand the knowledge of the participants, to analyse and discuss different ideas to strengthen the relationship to the water and imagine what this area could become and represent for the city.
2017
Type: Research, Workshop, Walk, Lecture
Location: Yverdon-les-Bains / Suisse Romande
Project by: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans & Caterina Viguera)