• 
• Arles line
  • •A stroll through antiquity
• Aix en Provence line     
  • • Around the pavillon Noir
  • • Around the cités universitaires
  
  MARTIGUES line
  • • The modern provencal Venice
• Marseille line
  • • MUCEM / Vieux Port
  • • Villa Méditerranée / les Docks   
  • • FRAC / Silo
  • • Around the Friche
  • • Chateau Borely / MAC

This architectural tour is an opportunity to discover this former blue-collar neighbourhood, which was home to a number of the Seita tobacco factory's workers. These buildings come together to tell a story of two centuries of industrial architecture in the heart of Marseille. The transformation of these abandoned and disused buildings into a number of culture spaces gave birth to La Friche de la Belle de Mai. Tobacco, culture... and the military! The army has recently vacated several barracks in the area. These formerly-abandoned spaces offer new territories for city makers to conquer.

A Rejuvenated Reservoir

The Friche's daycare was built in the former tobacco factory's water reservoir. This basin, along with its surroundings, also served as the terrace for the adjoining villa where the factory's director resided. ARM Architecture's idea was to simply cut openings into the thick cut-stone retaining wall, creating windows and doors which were complemented by two large wooden structures. The modestly-sized building thus looks like a little fortress dotted with portholes. Inside, the rooms are bathed in natural light via a system of patios. This one-story building also provides children with a large rooftop playground. The architects defined their intervention as an environmental rehabilitation: the original structure was preserved, and the ornamental stones were recycled and lay out in front of the building, as decorative elements. These stones serve a protective function, and, with their bias cuts and juxtapositions, create negative spaces for plants, which echoes the community garden located a few metres away, along the railway.

Architect :
ARM architecture

Year : 2012

Type : School

Address : 41 Rue Jobin,
13003 Marseille

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