The studio was part of an exploration into new architectural practices within the contemporary climatic metropolis, where issues related to climate, acceleration or deceleration, and the notion of the commons were fully engaged.

In this context, we proposed a shift in perspective - to think of the city from the inside, approaching the idea of interiority as a territory for a new ecology. The studio focused on the preservation and transformation of ordinary heritage in order to adapt inherited buildings to the needs of a society in flux.
The ambition was to design hybrid spaces for communities with evolving aspirations - spaces whose design encourages new practices and gives rise to previously unseen spatial configurations.

For the past year and a half, we have been engaged in a reflection on the transformation and adaptation of ordinary heritage located in the Praille-Acacias-Vernet (PAV) district in Geneva, and more specifically in the Grosselin neighborhood of Carouge.
We worked on the Blavignac 10 tower as well as on the conversion of the industrial site at 12–20 rue Baylon.

This semester, we continued our exploration of inherited urban situations within the Grosselin area by focusing on the building at 2 rue Baylon - a structure originally dedicated to artisanal and industrial activities, designed and built in the late 1980s. Its technical and functional assessment suggested a future somewhere between restoration and demolition.
A large and deep building 42 meters by 35 meters it initially appeared difficult to convert solely into housing, despite this being the programmatic priority for the district.

However, we identified several strong qualities: compactness, structural robustness, a wide-span post-and-slab system, non-load-bearing façades, generous ceiling heights… Its main weakness - its depth - could in fact become an asset and the catalyst for a renewed programmatic approach.

How can we preserve and reinvent this building for artisanal and industrial use?
How might the core of such a deep building be activated and occupied?
What kinds of programs and uses could complement its conversion into housing?