La Petite Cathédrale

This residential complex was conceived as a covered street about 300 meters long and 70 meters high, with width varying from 20 to 60 meters.

This project demonstrates how geometric methodology can be used in a different way to produce objects of significance and diverse use.

The layout and design of the edifice is accomplished through the use of spaces evoking the Gothic cathedrals: entry, nave, transept, chapters and cloisters, which develop along the length of a rectilinear axis. The Gothic inspiration is a response to the desire to create a macro-project significant and recognizable in the city, also to the wish to offer to the middle and working classes the enjoyment of monumental spaces, hitherto the privilege of the ruling classes.

Here again, RBTA employs the geometrical methodology of combining cubic volumes in space. While in Walden 7 the cubes were constructed over two floor units, in the Petite Cathédrale they have been structured over three floors, the intermediate level serving for circulation. The disposition of the cubes reproduces the elevation of the naves, side chapels, main front, transept and apse.

For RBTA, one of the values most overlooked by contemporary architecture, and one which should be rediscovered is cultural symbolism. La Petite Cathédrale seeks to link up with one of the great periods of the French tradition, that of Gothic Art.

The integration of functions involves a mixture of activities as diverse as open-air theater, street markets, swimming pools, water sports, green spaces, and above all, a covered shopping street which occupies the nave or central space, which becomes the hub of activity in the neighborhood.