Architecture and resistance

Can architecture help pacify a neighborhood? Can a school rebuild trust in institutions? Since 2004, the working-class district of La Devèze in Béziers has been undergoing a drastic urban renewal program. O-S Architectes, in collaboration with the Montpellier-based firm NAS, has completed a sandblasted concrete school whose roof is a façade in its own right. Built on a single level, it follows the site’s topography, fitting seamlessly into the footprint of the now-demolished housing blocks. While the neighborhood once again flared up during the recent riots, AHA organized a visit with the press, the architects, and Robert Ménard, the mayor of Béziers and a native of La Devèze. When he speaks of quality, high security, and repopulation, the architects answer with massiveness, porosity, and serenity. To be continued — because, as O-S Architectes put it, “it is our responsibility not to abandon any territory.”

Press kit upon request