Types of mandate
Historical project
Dates
1960-1964
Location
Meyrin
Architectes
Georges Addor, Louis Payot, Jacques Bolliger
Owners of
the project
SI en formation
SI Le Ciel bleu
Project
Initiating the start of the construction of the satellite area of Meyrin in 1960, this radical operation foreshadows that of Lignon.
The complex consists essentially of eight ten-storey housing units, grouped in pairs, staggered so as to avoid any overlap of the facades and separated by an open-air car park, superimposed on two underground car parks accessible by a circular ramp.
The ground floors on stilts ensure transparency. The rooms of these (approximately) 600 apartments face northwest towards the Jura, behind a flat facade reminiscent of an administrative building that reflects the landscape. The living rooms are extended by a regular row of balconies lit by the morning sun and sculpted by shadows, with the Salève in the background.
The project was then extended by the Ciel Bleu complex, to the northeast, with the same architecture and identical features.
The deliberate choice of high density for this project allows to free up continuous green spaces to be transformed into parks and opened to the public, the shortest possible access thanks to the road located on the periphery of the city, as well as the rigorous orientation of the units, are all aspects which contribute to the exemplary status of this operation. The location of the satellite area’s shopping centre on the same plot of land is an additional asset. The project for one of Switzerland’s first shopping centres is based on the concept of the traditional shopping street, with two square entrances that communicate with each other via passages and stairways inserted between the shops. The cross-sectional layout of the two streets at staggered levels allows for both optimal use of basements in stores and for visual openness for users.
The complex is a kind of artificial hill, the highest point of which is located opposite the buildings. It used to cover a circular 450-seat cinema in the basement. The shopping centre has since paid a heavy price for change, in particular with the disappearance of the cinema, and is now similar to any ordinary mall in a medium-sized American city.
Isabelle Claden, Jean-Pierre Lewerer, “Meyrin parc et Cité ciel bleu”, in Catherine Courtiau (dir.) XXe - Un siècle d’architectures à Genève : promenades, Patrimoine suisse Genève, Gollion, Infolio, 2009, pp. 404-405
