Along the Line
Along the Line
L’eau à la rencontre de la ville
L’eau à la rencontre de la ville
How to experience a line that is no longer visible?
Along the line (L'eau à la rencontre de la Ville) was a temporary urban installation created for the city of Yverdon-les-Bains and its inhabitants, on the occasion of the 150 years of the Jura water correction (1868).
Because of the water correction, the water height of the lake decreased with 2,70m and the shoreline with 400m from the city center of Yverdon, affecting the historical relationhip between the city and the lake. This ‘gained’ waterfront territory, in fact a place of high potential, remains a no-man’s land, with various heterogeneous realities; industries, residences, asphalt paths, green fields, walls and unspoken buildings, blocking the routes from the city center to the lake.
The installation consisted of five stations that created a new ‘scenographic path’ that subtly visualised the original shoreline. Each one of the fragments was placed on a specific encounter point between the original lakeshore line and the main elements of the present context that define the identity of the area.
The installation invited the public to stop at each one of the segments, to reflect on the past and history, to feel the present and to question the future and the future potential of the city.
In order to deepen this experience, to activate the area and foster the emergence of these reflections for the future of the city, collaborations have been made with regional artists. The installation served as a platform, support or constraint to the creation of five artistic performances, vibrating between sound and light, music, theater and dance, during La Dérivée festival in the summer of 2018. The program of events was made in collaboration with Margaux Genton and Association ICI.
Workshop as part of the cultural festival of La Derivée 2017
The ideas that emerged during the Workshop became the starting point and inspiration for this installation.
In this workshop we focused on the transformation process of the Rives du Lac/Waterfront area of the city of Yverdon, that started with the correction of the Jura water in 1870, when the city gained a generous piece of land (±400m) along the lake. The workshop was a journey through time, where we try to understand the intentions behind this correction. At the same time, we studied how this new waterfront resulted in a deterioration of Yverdon’s historical relationship to the water. Most of the population of Yverdon thinks of it 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.
The workshop started with drawing the original shoreline of the Neuchâtel lake in Yverdon, and it is particularly along this line where we can find the diverging realities (elements, materials, uses, spaces, traces, connections) that have originated. During three days, the participants will be invited to take a new look at their city.
The participants of the workshop, mostly from Yverdon, realized that today, although the original shoreline is no longer visible, it is particularly along this line that divergent realities intersect, industries and residential areas, paved roads and green fields, but also lonely (and sometimes vacant) buildings, closed or dead-end roads, and hard walls between the Parc de Rives and the city center.
These intersections and paradoxes were particularly inspiring to the participants. Together, they gathered working material (photos, drawings, videos, texts) in order to start a discussion, to present and confront their ideas on the different possibilities to make this line visible, to materialize it but also to see it as a chance to strengthen the connection between the city and the lake.
The workshop was accompanied by lectures and activities to stimulate the discussion and expand the knowledge of the participants, to analyse and discuss different visions of the participants to strengthen the relationship to the water and generate new ideas and perceptions of what this area could become and represent for the city. Lectures: ‘Waterfronts’ by rotative studio and Myriam Treiber and ‘La Construction du Quotidien’ by Martin Lepoutre
Along the line (L'eau à la rencontre de la Ville) was a temporary urban installation created for the city of Yverdon-les-Bains and its inhabitants, on the occasion of the 150 years of the Jura water correction (1868).
Because of the water correction, the water height of the lake decreased with 2,70m and the shoreline with 400m from the city center of Yverdon, affecting the historical relationhip between the city and the lake. This ‘gained’ waterfront territory, in fact a place of high potential, remains a no-man’s land, with various heterogeneous realities; industries, residences, asphalt paths, green fields, walls and unspoken buildings, blocking the routes from the city center to the lake.
The installation consisted of five stations that created a new ‘scenographic path’ that subtly visualised the original shoreline. Each one of the fragments was placed on a specific encounter point between the original lakeshore line and the main elements of the present context that define the identity of the area.
The installation invited the public to stop at each one of the segments, to reflect on the past and history, to feel the present and to question the future and the future potential of the city.
In order to deepen this experience, to activate the area and foster the emergence of these reflections for the future of the city, collaborations have been made with regional artists. The installation served as a platform, support or constraint to the creation of five artistic performances, vibrating between sound and light, music, theater and dance, during La Dérivée festival in the summer of 2018. The program of events was made in collaboration with Margaux Genton and Association ICI.
Workshop as part of the cultural festival of La Derivée 2017
The ideas that emerged during the Workshop became the starting point and inspiration for this installation.
In this workshop we focused on the transformation process of the Rives du Lac/Waterfront area of the city of Yverdon, that started with the correction of the Jura water in 1870, when the city gained a generous piece of land (±400m) along the lake. The workshop was a journey through time, where we try to understand the intentions behind this correction. At the same time, we studied how this new waterfront resulted in a deterioration of Yverdon’s historical relationship to the water. Most of the population of Yverdon thinks of it 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.
The workshop started with drawing the original shoreline of the Neuchâtel lake in Yverdon, and it is particularly along this line where we can find the diverging realities (elements, materials, uses, spaces, traces, connections) that have originated. During three days, the participants will be invited to take a new look at their city.
The participants of the workshop, mostly from Yverdon, realized that today, although the original shoreline is no longer visible, it is particularly along this line that divergent realities intersect, industries and residential areas, paved roads and green fields, but also lonely (and sometimes vacant) buildings, closed or dead-end roads, and hard walls between the Parc de Rives and the city center.
These intersections and paradoxes were particularly inspiring to the participants. Together, they gathered working material (photos, drawings, videos, texts) in order to start a discussion, to present and confront their ideas on the different possibilities to make this line visible, to materialize it but also to see it as a chance to strengthen the connection between the city and the lake.
The workshop was accompanied by lectures and activities to stimulate the discussion and expand the knowledge of the participants, to analyse and discuss different visions of the participants to strengthen the relationship to the water and generate new ideas and perceptions of what this area could become and represent for the city. Lectures: ‘Waterfronts’ by rotative studio and Myriam Treiber and ‘La Construction du Quotidien’ by Martin Lepoutre
Type
Urban Installation, Workshop, Lecture, Cultural Program
Client
Self-initiated
Sponsor
Comission culturelle de la villed’Yverdon-les-Bains
Association ICI
Getaz Miauton
Location
Yverdon-les-Bains
Year
2017, 2018
Urban Installation
Along the Line
Workshop
Along the Line (i.c.w. Myriam Treiber)
Lectures
- Waterfronts past-present-future (i.c.w. Myriam Treiber)
- Zürich, les cooperatives reinventent le logement social (invited guest Martin Lepoutre)
Cultural Program
L’eau à la rencontre de la Ville (i.c.w. Margaux Genton)
Artists
Simon Rouiller
Le Collectif Necto
Bazil Felix
Maëlle Gross
Ramon Landolt & Tapiwa Svovse
Photos
rotative studio
Julien Mudry
Urban Installation, Workshop, Lecture, Cultural Program
Client
Self-initiated
Sponsor
Comission culturelle de la villed’Yverdon-les-Bains
Association ICI
Getaz Miauton
Location
Yverdon-les-Bains
Year
2017, 2018
Urban Installation
Along the Line
Workshop
Along the Line (i.c.w. Myriam Treiber)
Lectures
- Waterfronts past-present-future (i.c.w. Myriam Treiber)
- Zürich, les cooperatives reinventent le logement social (invited guest Martin Lepoutre)
Cultural Program
L’eau à la rencontre de la Ville (i.c.w. Margaux Genton)
Artists
Simon Rouiller
Le Collectif Necto
Bazil Felix
Maëlle Gross
Ramon Landolt & Tapiwa Svovse
Photos
rotative studio
Julien Mudry