MARSEILLE – Quartier des Catalans // non construit

There are places where geography identifies a city as well as its monuments. This is the case of Marseilles and its coastal road. At the foot of the spectacular Samathan cliff, Les Catalans is intended first of all to celebrate the site whilst providing each housing unit with both a sea view to the south and sunlight from the west. Rather than a line of buildings along the coastal road, blocking off the sea from the rest of the area, Portzamparc creates a fragmented urban scheme which a rock garden cuts in two, ensuring public access to the beach. The “in-between” affords beautiful views of the sea and over the cliff, framing the site and nature. A 40-metre rise generates a terraced city. The buildings are handled on principles of vertical stratification, on superimposed terrestrial and ethereal levels.