Viaduct over the Venoge – Establishment of site
The aim of this competition was one of designing a viaduct, ensuring the liaison between the development centre at Vufflens-La-Ville – Aclens and the motorway junction at Cossonay on the A1.
This viaduct should span the pre-existing transportation routes, which are located in the Venoge plan, as follows:
- The railway line linking Lausanne – Neuchâtel and other destinations
- The station serving Vufflens-la-Ville
- The cantonal road, 176d
And although it cannot be navigated here, - The Venoge.
We are located on a plain here, and as a result, the site is not characterised by significant topographical features. Therefore, it was not a case of envisaging a bridge here, but a transport route.
Since the terrain did not allow us to intervene «naturally», we had to make an effort to «artificially» achieve the following:
- Raise traffic
- Make it span existing obstacles
- Bring it back down 289 metres further on.
The architectural bias for this project was not that of making this viaduct an extraordinary feature, or to make it an object in its own right, but to ensure that its purpose was on display and made obvious, in a subtle, dynamic and efficient manner, including:
Ensure functional support destined for road traffic which offers an ideal combination between its route (purpose) and how it is implemented (shape).
Here, the structure should be as discrete as possible. Steel, triangular shapes will allow for maximum reduction of contact points with the ground. This bias is based on the desire to:
- Reduce environmental impact of this latest construction to an absolute minimum
- Avoid logistical disturbance to existing transport routes
- Allow subtle integration of the viaduct with the landscape. Therefore, the viaduct will not become a visual obstacle since its structure allows for clear views above and below the transport route.
So dynamism, take-off and landing become the keywords which define the concept of this project.
The Earth will have to work in collaboration with our intervention; first of all, it will be raised.
(At this point the viaduct’s foundations will be dealt with like take-off ramps. The connector between the foundation and the triangular shapes will be made using a concrete cube which will connect with the structure’s corner)
Then, it will be removed and will disappear.
(The bearings then take over, painted black, they will blend in with the landscape. Only the transport route will then be visible, leaving a trail similar to that of a comet in the sky).
Finally, the Earth will curve again, in order for the volatile elements that came here for a fleeting moment to settle again on its back, as means of transport.
