The “central strip”, heart of the campus & to the north, a naturalistic landscape, the edge

The planning and design of the École polytechnique neighborhood marks a major phase of the development of South Campus on the heights of the Saclay plateau. The landscape constitutes a significant asset, offering a physical framework that allows this gradual transformation to come about in a coherent manner. The neighborhood will be organized around the creation of a central strip, which will function as the heart of the campus, welcoming housing, economic activities, higher education and research institutions. This central axis bordered by two boulevards will be covered with a succession of public spaces, becoming large squares in front of university sites, smaller courtyards in front of businesses, public gardens in front of residential buildings. In the center of the neighborhood, the line 18 Palaiseau metro station will form the spot of activity and appeal for the neighborhood. The landscape present here in the heart of campus fits smoothly into the continuity of the wider landscape present along the “chain of major places” that runs across the entirety of South Campus. A unified treatment of the ground creates a foundational support and setting for the neighborhood. Its implementation relies on an atypical economy of means. Perhaps here more than elsewhere, the reality of the construction work and its maintenance are a determining factor in the readability of the whole. The issue is approached concretely with the creation in 2013 of an original space where a kind of prefiguration can take place, the “test garden”. A naturalistic landscape to the north of the site allows for the integration of the very large research centers, either already existing or planned, into the heart of a coherent landscape and a new road network