La Cartoucherie – La cour des images

This architectural proposal aims to showcase the Cartoucherie, an industrial palace facing the Château de Crussol, and maximise its potential to host new activities focused on animation with Folimage (production), la Poudrière (training), and l'Équipée (distribution). We needed to preserve the spirit of the place, the atmosphere created by the combination of spaces, structures and materials, colours and light, which bears witness to a vanished industry. This atmosphere fascinated the site's future occupants and belongs to the history of Bourg-lès-Valence, its people, and its former cartridge-factory workers. The Cartoucherie features high-quality industrial architecture. The repetition along its façade gives it a monumental aspect further reinforced by its position on a steep slope. One of the project's main challenges was to restore unity and permanence to this industrial landmark. The landscape design draws on the site's two main characteristics: geographically, it's a highly visible site; historically, it carries the trace of a generous, utopian vision for the world, shaped by and for a culture centred on observation and drawing.