Publication in the "Revista de Edificación"

An article by Emmanuel Rey of the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) is published in the last issue of the Spanish journal "Revista de Edificación" (RE). This contribution deals with the topic of sustainable urban housing with, as a basis, the experiences encountered notably during the development of the Ecoparc district in Neuchâtel (Switzerland). Published under the aegis of the University of Navarre, RE is a peer-reviewed journal dealing with various urban, architectural and technological topics.

Since more than a decade, facing the challenge of balance resulting from sustainable urban development, public policies of most European countries aim at promoting territorial strategies based on urban densification processes, synthesized in formulas nowadays widespread such as "inward urbanization" or "building the city on the city". Beyond slogans, it results from these territorial visions crucial qualitative challenges for the architects who are involved in the densification processes.

As far as habitat is concerned, the aim is to develop typologies that can offer a credible alternative to periurban individual housing whilst integrating other environmental and socio-cultural issues characteristic to architectural projects. The analysis of Ecoparc housing allows illustrating the architectural, spatial, typological and technical issues of such an approach.

A new dense and multifunctional urban center was created with the Ecoparc district by the regeneration of an urban wasteland situated close to the train station in Neuchâtel (Switzerland). The project is characterized notably by a carful integration into the site, by a wide typological diversity, the use of local climatic resources, low non-renewable energy consumption and a high environmental quality.