In search of the Genius Loci
An architectural residence aims to contribute to opening the eyes of the inhabitants and local actors on contemporary issues related to the identity of cities and territories. It must also stimulate debate on architectural production, uses and lifestyles as well as on the links between housing and the local environment, whether urban, natural or agricultural. The architectural residence that took place on the site of the Rabot, at the Bastille of Grenoble had as ambition to question the genius loci of the place. The residence time allowed to sketch the characteristics of the site, to study the Rabot in its local and temporal context through three axes: to take a current look at the built heritage to redefine its potentials; to envisage a space that weaves links with the surroundings, while cultivating its particularities; to imagine a participatory and creative methodology allowing the contribution and appropriation of the project by the users. What we present at the Maison de l'Architecture de l'Isère is a set of elements of this residence that allows visitors to understand this plural heritage site. The residents (Goulven Jaffrès and Clémence Chapus) designed, produced and imagined representations of the future of the Rabot site, in order to illustrate the amplification and diversification of the uses of the place, to open it to a metropolitan dimension.