Trip to Lille

Well it seems to have been a while since my last entry.  Time has flown and alot has happened.  But most significantly was our trip to Lille.  So my first bit of catching up is about what I discovered on this trip and what I learned about myself and design.  Working with a group of about 40 or so, half being the french students, we had been set the site of the Porte d'Pyres an area around the northern part of the city.

The brief was slightly daunting, but very exciting at this point.  Although I have only just got to grips with the fact I am more of a landscape architect these days rather than a garden designer........but this....this was city planning!  Road infrastructures, transport infrastructures commercial buildings, residential buildings, leisure facilities....oh and habitat!  We were given an opening speach by ????????? who explained the history of the city, the difficulties with the site and how the collapsing industries over the years had left many parts of the city disjointed with residential and old commercial/industrial properties mixed together.

There were two things which on a larger scale to the site were significant charaters of the city.  The first being the Citadel and old fortified ramparts and secondly the new 'Euro Lille'.  The latter is the new ethos for the city to develop.  Lilles location is perfect for a connection point of industry through Europe.  The city planning has taken on the direction of basing the central station and Eurostar connections to be the heart of the city, rather than sticking the station to the city outskirts.

The historic side of things are the old ramparts.  Some exposed some buried beneath the ground and covered up.  Coinsiding with this are a number of waterways and canals, some of which linked with the old fortifications.

When we first arrived in Lille on the Sunday, we were greated first  by frost, then by a snow blizzard....which I have to say gave a completely different view of the city.  Below are some images of areas around the site we were about to work on.

The frozen cannal which normally flowed into the south side of our site 

Here an example of the stone and brick work in the city.  Quite beautiful in places how the old and new mix.  The old materials a mixture of Limestone which is indigenous to the area, along with brick work of which was a thriving industry in Lille.  You can see in the bottom left picture an example of the hand made bricks held by Lime mortar.  We later were shown an example of how the mortar can erode quite seriously over time.  First it drys out, then the wind and rain get a hold of it and before you know the walls are crumbling away.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this as the snow was preventing me from taking any pictures!!

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW........