Nemausus 1
Nemausus 1 is a whole of social housing builds with Nimes between 1985 and 1987 by Jean Nouvel. The name of the project comes from that of the city to the Roman epoch. The two buildings which constitute the unit are located close to the boulevard outer, which occurred of the Leclerc general, in a residential zone close to a ZUP of the Années 1960.
The ground was an industrial waste land of old warehouses of electrical materials. The warehouses were destroyed, remains of this time only the court bordered of Platane S.
The two buildings are two “bars”. They present side street a round form a such Proue. The shortest building ends in the inclined plan, longest by a vertical frontage posed on two concrete veils which point out a Gouvernail. Over the entire length, one finds side northern, of the gangways which serve the apartments, southern part, of the Terrasse S. the building is posed on pillars releasing space for the carparks.
The unit counts 114 apartments between 90 and 160m ², of the apartment on only one stage with the Duplex and even Triplex. The wish of Jean Nouvel is to give more space to the social housing being opposed to the downward trend surfaces lasting the years 1960 and 1970. To arrive for this purpose, the service roads are rejected outside the block formed by the building. The metal staircases are in the court. Only the lift shaft cuts the building in two blocks.
To reduce the costs, construction repeats the same reason upwards. Every five meters, a concrete veil separates the apartments. The same width is selected to separate the pillars on the level from the carpark and for the panels constituting the roof. The construction materials are without completion and point out an industrial building. The doors of the terraces in Aluminum are similar to those used in the fire stations. The walls are covered with aluminum plates. The railings of the gangways and terraces are inclined and point out those used on the building sites.
The whole of these measurements involves an economy making it possible to offer more roomy residences at the same cost of construction that a traditional “bar”. From this point of view Nemausus is a proof that it is possible to build social housing differently.
Inside the walls are naked, they let appear the constructional defects and even the marks left by the workmen. It is an esthetic choice which Jean Nouvel tried to impose. Despite everything, tenants arranged their interior (partition poses, of paper-painted, Rideau X or paintings).
The Utopia of Nemausus 1 has its limits. By giving more space to the tenants, the rent is from 30 to 50% higher than for a traditional HLM. This one remaining calculated according to surface, even if the apartments have the same cost of construction as smaller residences.