Prix W 2016

Description

Dear students and young architects, 

For 10 years, the Wilmotte Foundation has promoted the meeting of heritage and contemporary creation through the organization of the W Prize, dedicated to students and young architects.
For its 7th edition, we are pleased to invite you to bring new life to Pondorly, a bridge-building and southern gateway to Paris, which shall serve as the support for a reflection on the nature of the contemporary graft. 
The best projects, selected by an international jury, will be remunerated, exhibited in Venice at the Gallery of the Wilmotte Foundation, and published in a book dedicated to the competition.
We count on you to innovate within the project constraints, stimulate your creativity, and propose a project at the level of the site and its future ambitions.
We look forward to receiving your proposals that will turn Pondorly into a new Arc de Triomphe for Paris.

Good Luck,
Jean Michel WILMOTTE

HISTORY

Pondorly was built in 1968 by the architect and 1949 Rome Prize Laureate Paul Vimond . Its total area approaches 5000 square meters.
Initially, the building housed a restaurant and a shopping mall. It now hosts the largest nightclub in the area surrounding Paris.
In 2025, the Marché d’Intérêt National of Rungis will open to the public during the day, becoming a hotspot dedicated to French gastronomy. Important changes are expected concerning transportation and urban planning in the area.

CONTEXT

Pondorly connects the city of Rungis to the Marché d'Intérêt National (M.I.N), the biggest food market in the world.
Il's spans highway A106, which connects Paris with the Orly airport. It is surrounded by hotels, parking lots and a gas station.

PROGRAM

The new Pondorly will be dedicated to host events of every dimension. You're invited to create a festive place for use during the day as well as during the night. Your project could include: a nightclub, a concert hall, a cinema, a restaurant, an exhibition hall, a bar, etc…
The ability to cross the bridge must be preserved.
Your architectural graft can assume any form or scale; however, the existing structure of the building must be retained in your proposition.
Your intervention should also turn the bridge into an architectural signal; a true symbol for anyone entering Paris from the south.