Abstract EN:

Architectural techniques, linked to the transformation of buildings or to rehabilitation methods, were used differently according to urban constructions. Until the late sixties rehabilitating meant restoring city centres. From the nineties these techniques were associated with an architectural form (the multi-storey block designed in the post-war decades). The analysis of the sites led us to regard these techniques as experiments. I worked on rehabilitation process, not on rehabilitation itself. Speaking of rehabilitation implicitly suggests a singular technique and a global, general policy. But talking about processes implies urban histories, architectural policies and aesthetic conceptions. I aimed at demonstrating that the resort to these conventional methods, applied to the urban form by governing bodies (private and public housing bodies) and then by state authorities, became a major aspect in government policies towards the areas with multi-storey blocks. In the early seventies, before the introduction of state policies, these methods were combined with a social project ("bringing back" middle classes to these area), and with an architectural plan (transforming buildings). Yet oil crises led to energy saving programmes and changed the way rehabilitation schemes were financed and conceived from technical aspects (e. G. Energy standards). In the eighties the increase in social problems (unemployment, urban violence) affected rehabilitation programmes and highlighted social policies. Rehabilitation plans were concerned with the facades of buildings to improve their image. It was not until the late nineties that these programmes took into account the restructuring of space. The analysis of the plans set up in the urban evolution (the enclosing and opening of areas; their privatisation and classification) led us to think about the return to a conventional, almost mythical, city project, which might help introduce new lifestyles for the people of these areas.