Cité Bonnier
Paris XXe
Renovation of the Cité Bonnier housing project and its exterior spaces
13,000 m2 of exterior spaces
Led by three project management teams for Paris Habitat, the comprehensive renovation of the Cité Bonnier housing project seeks to open up the site, which has remained separated from its surroundings, and to reintegrate it into the rest of the neighbourhood.
Our work on both the landscape and the architecture pursues three goals: opening the project to its neighbourhood and city, improving the quality of life of its inhabitants and providing a greater sense of safety, and enhancing its 1920s-era architectural heritage.
Designed by Louis Bonnier in 1920-1928, this project consists of a series of residences arranged around private courtyards.
History
HBMs are Parisian public housing projects dating back to the 1920s and 30s. They represent a continuation of the attempts made since the time of Napoleon III to provide housing to the working class. As an architect working in the employ of the city of Paris, Louis Bonnier was responsible for implementing public housing regulations. He designed some thirty buildings along the Rue Menilmontant, which were interspersed to facilitate air flows. The housing was equipped with heating and indoor plumbing.
To respect Bonnier’s intentions, clear, functional limits will be given anew to the private spaces in the buildings to allow inhabitants to appropriate them and feel safe within them.
