When the temperature rises in Paris, a cool break is possible on a bench in the 13th arrondissement. In smooth stone, elongated in shape, with a slight curve, this ”
climatic bench »Diverts the air from the Parisian quarries below the surface to cool off according to the Provençal well principle. “The stone therefore remains cool in all circumstances”, explains Frédéric Blaise, one of the architects of
Alt agency who worked on the project with Guillaume Duranel, Julia Lenoir and designers Emma Lelong and Rémi Nguyen.
He continues: “The Provençal well technique has existed for thousands of years. In construction, beyond 30 centimeters of depth, there is no more temperature variation: we stay at a constant temperature between 12 or 14 degrees. Using a ventilation system integrated into the bench, the public space is naturally cooled by connecting this air at 14 degrees with the surface. “
“The first time that these careers are seen as an asset”
Installed on June 1 at 30, place Jeanne-d’Arc, and tested until September 15, the bench is placed on a road buffer open to a deep quarry. Beyond 25 degrees, a probe activates the mechanism allowing ventilation which passes through the visible slits on its sides. This project was created as part of the program MAKE from
Pavilion of the Arsenal, one of whose missions is to raise awareness about the making of the city.
Designed in partnership with Climespace, the General Inspectorate of Parisian Quarries and “Air des Carrières”, the prototype is already attracting interest. “After the competition, we were contacted by other town halls, explains Frédéric Blaise. But the project is not possible everywhere: there must be a career below. The 13th and 14th are two eligible districts, being located above quarries. “This is the first time that these careers have been seen as an asset, they which usually seemed to be constraints. “
Even in hot weather, like this week in Paris, the bench faces competition from the steps of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Gare church, whose walls rise up in front of the stone device. Suzanne, a German artist living in Paris, made it her place to sketch for a few hours. “The idea is not bad,” she smiles with a yellow posca in her hand. But I would have made him taller, less thin. “