In light of the energy transition, the Chavalon power plant is a ruin that bears witness to the decentralization of power production in Switzerland, and a case study of ten infrastructures from the 20^th century that will be obsolete over the next decades. Built in 1965, closed down in 1999, it was then purchased speculatively in 2017 at a guaranteed price of destruction by the company Group. Since then, the site has come to a standstill due to the municipality’s opposition to developer projects despite its limited means to take care of the site.

DIS/ ASSEMBLE investigates the old power plant as what is commonly referred to as a Negative Common* - a negative resource our generation will inherit. The project’s priority is to offer a vision highlighting our shared responsibility for the site; by proposing its progressive dismantling, re-use, and care. Being about process and interactions, a sensible itinerary for its end-of-life is organised with a gradual return to nature, as promised in 1965.

The site opens to the public, sanitation and deconstruction begin and the main vacant building is trans-formed in a re-use center processing and storing the material on site. In this operation, the specificmoment of the boiler’s dismantling leaves the façade of the re-use center open and makes room for an architectural gesture: a temporary facade in re-used steel that be-comes the mediator between the worksite, the public, and different educational programs. A monument to deconstruction and visual indicator of the unmaking, remaking and maintenance of the growing park.

Betreuung: Professur Sarah Nichols, Amy Perkins

Die Präsentation von Meryl Barthe und Noémie Perregaux-Dielf im Video sehen Sie hier.

Weitere Videos der Nominierten finden Sie hier.