Studio Idaë

Urban design

Méandres

As part of the second metro line construction project, Place Saint-Germain was redeveloped to accommodate a new station. The aim of the project was to transform the site into a pedestrian zone, with a weekly market, while at the same time enhancing the architectural heritage of one of the city’s oldest churches, the Eglise Saint-Germain.

At the heart of this redevelopment, the city of Rennes wanted water to be present in the form of a water mirror or fountain. In collaboration with the OGI design office, we designed a fountain with jets that attempts to meet three challenges:
– Reconcile a place of flow and a place to pause
– Evoke the presence of the Vilaine River
– Integrate the presence of water into the design of the square.

 

In the 17th century, when the Place Saint-Germain had not yet reached its present dimensions, the Vilaine River meandered through the center of Rennes. As shown on the map below, it made two bends and divided into three parts: the first ran along the city’s southern ramparts, and two streams extended to the south-west. This occupation by water made the town subject to frequent flooding. It enabled various economic activities, such as tanneries, pigsties and slaughterhouses, to set up close to the water, but this concentration led to pollution and insalubrity.

In the mid-19th century, work was undertaken to canalize the river in order to clean up the town and make it navigable. Whereas the Vilaine used to border the Saint-Germain district, the new canal draws a straight line and makes this meander disappear. This meander extended over part of the Quai Chateaubriand as we know it today.

 

Archives of the city of Rennes. Plan of the city, surveyed by F. Forestier after the fire of 1726. Although this project was not fully realized, the plan shows the location of the Vilaine canalization and its former meander under Place Saint-Germain.With a view to integrating it into the square, we designed a fountain reminiscent of the passage of this meander. The design is composed of beige Huelgoat granite paving stones, the same material used to pave the square. The fountain features 13 jets. In summer, it is a space for misting and cooling. In winter, or on market days, it becomes a circulation space.