New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Reconnecting with nature

Email user
quentin.chef@gmail.com

Basic information
Initiative title
Wicker Footbridge

Full initiative Title
Building crossings in wicker: flexible construction of a post-formed footbridge

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
This project is a 12,8m-long footbridge made of structural wicker. It was designed for the first edition of Les Utopies Constructives that will stand in 2023 in the city of Richelieu (FRANCE).

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
Regional

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
France

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Richelieu (Indre-et-Loire)

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly rural

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Construire l'Architecture
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Quentin
  Last name of representative: Chef
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: France
  Function: Engineer Architect, secretaire of the association
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 11 rue Nuyens bâtiment 7 appartement 731
  Town: Bordeaux
  Postal code: 33100
  Country: France
  Direct Tel: +33781288980
  E-mail: quentin.chef@gmail.com
  Website: https://www.construire-l-architecture.com
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: http://www.instagram.com/construirarchi/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @construirarchi
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/ConstruirArchi/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @construirarchi
- URL: https://fr.linkedin.com/company/construire-l-architecture
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @construirarchi
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
NEB Newsletter

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
Les Utopies Constructives is a festival of architecture created by Le Beta (Marc Hymans) and La Teinturerie (Benjamain Marolleau) to promote innovative design and research of various fields (architecture, urbanism, art, philosophy, sociology) in the context of Richelieu, which is a Cité Idéale created by the Cardinal.
During this festival, two pedestrian bridges will be exposed in the Parc, across an historical canal. One of them is Wicker Footbridge.

The first traces of basketry date back to the Sumerian's period (4000 years BC). From now on, these braiding techniques have been used to craft vernacular shelters, clothes, furniture and tools. However, they are uncommonly used in architecture and are generally limited to non-structural filling elements. To our knowledge, the Baya project developed in 2020-2021 at ENSA-Paris-la Villette and CentraleSupélec schools was one of the first examples of a braided wicker structural shell in architecture. Based on the braiding optimization algorithm developed during this previous project, our research intends to question one step beyond: crossings. This innovative research is demonstrated by the realization of a 12.8-meter-long footbridge for the Utopies Constructives festival in Richelieu's Park. The footbridge, which echoes the reed boats of the Uros, a Peruvian tribe, will be braided flat before being moistened and shaped by buckling; then it will be stiffened post-buckling by braiding the railings together. Building in a flexible way, then stiffening during the service phase is both the constructive process of elastic gridshells and the one used by basket weavers who braid the green wicker, which then stiffens once the object is formed.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
Structure as architecture

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Computationnal design

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Sustainability

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Basketry in Wicker

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Reasearch

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
The wicker used for the footbridge grows 35km far from the construction site. It is very local !
Wicker is a natural fiber, collected once a year during winter. Its height can reach 3.5 meters. It is produced by young willow cuttings. It grows in the climates encountered in Metropolitan France. It resists low temperatures and even frost.
It’s a very minimal cultivation, requiring limited inputs and maintenance, which makes it possible to diversify the forest cover. Its water consumption and its CO2 emissions are low (wicker is also capable of storing carbon, but the quantified evaluation of this benefit depends directly on the life span of the object that is made with). The wicker production also reduces floods, silting of rivers and streams, and slow soil erosion. At the dawn of the climate crisis, the ecological qualities of wicker are leading a growing number of designers to question its possible use in architecture. Nevertheless, in France, the amount of willow plantations has drastically decreased throughout the last century, from 25 000 in 1890 to only 400 during the 1990s. The plastic revolution has led to a change in the French consumption habits and a decline in the demand for basketry products. The department of Indre-et-Loire, where our project is realized, undertakes actions for the conservation of this craft.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Basketry is a craft that has emerged very early in human history. The first traces of wicker objects date back to the Sumerian civilization (4 000 BC) and the first traces of basketry were found in Fayum in Upper Egypt, around 10 000 BC. Everywhere on the planet, people began to weave natural fibers for the design of objects, clothes, or shelters, thanks to local raw material and local know-how.
Architecture and construction have slightly opened their doors to the art of wickerwork, but it is mostly limited to non-structural filling. Porky Hoeffer, particularly, with the construction of woven huts, conceptualizes the designs of crossing, somewhere between timber skeleton and wicker. To continue this path, a team of students and teachers from ENSA Paris-la Villette and CentraleSupélec has been developing the BAYA project since 2021: an algorithm created to optimize the braiding of structural shells for architecture.
As a demonstration, a suspended nest has been created with this algorithm. Our research is a continuation of this project: indeed, we will use the BAYA algorithm to cross long spans with wicker, and we will try to improve this tool thanks to this new feedback. Laura Ellen Bacon produces large- scale artistic objects, including relatively long-span crossings, but these are not intended to support any external load such as the weight of users. Finally, one of the best examples of braided wicker crossings is found among the Uros people in Peru, with their boats made of totora, the local rush (in case of rough sea, the boat is not supported by the water in its entire length and must therefore be able to resist bending).

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Co-design : 1 festival, 4 associations, at least 30 students from 6 schools were involved (yet) during the process.
Universal design : all the tools used for the design of the footbridge are open source and accessible on our website Constuire l'Architecture.
Public participation : most of the time, construction was outdoor and open to the citizens of Richelieu and tourists, for everyone to seet it.
Accessibility : access to the project will be free during the fesival. It adresses both specialized public and all curious persons form the area !
Affordability : wicker only costs 6 EUR for one kilo. The footbridge represents 500 kilos.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
Richelieu is a one-of-a-kind utopistic city : every inhabitant seems to make an effort to make the city better and more attractive. Les Utopies Constructives will provide visibility to that quality.

At the center of the local organization of the festival is La Teinturerie. A local center for designers and artists or everyone who matches with the spirit of the place. The footbridge has been built thanks to students, during 2 workshops (a third and last construction phase is yet to come) : La Teinturerie helped to make it possible, providing solutions for food, equipment, storage, accommodation.
L'Osier du Gué Droit and the community of wicker producers are a very active team of craftsmen and entrepeneurs. Thanks to them, wicker and basketry have never been forget. Thanks to projects like Wicker footbridge, we try to help them enter in the new century and diversify the field of use (architecture, structure).

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
The CityHall is of course a central part in the process.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
Wicker Footbridge involved : Construire l'Architecture, ENSA Paris La Villette (architecture school) and CentraleSupélec (engineering) for the design. Applied arts schools (Boulle, Duperré, ENSAMA, and Olivier De Serres) joined them for building it. Osier du Gué Droit provided the material and the formation. During a second building phase, Ecole Zero (festival for innovative ways of teaching architecture) took part in. Now a new group of students is doing mechanical tests on wicker at a laboratory. This footbridge is at the meeting of all fields and cultures ! It involved computational design skills and traditional techniques in the making (high tech and low tech at the same time).

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
The Baya Nest appeared to be on of the first examples of the use of wicker as a structural material, without primary elements of steel or timber. Wicker Footbridge will be a second demonstration of the capabilities of the material and of our algorithm, at another level (13m is a huge distance !).

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
We intend to have a scientific approach. This two projects alrealy led to publish articles in the IASS symposium in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, another article will be published in the JASS. More results are yet to come : a more precise mechanical caracterization campain is running at CentraleSupélec, and one Wicker workshop will be held at les Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC).

The BAYA algorithm is open source and available on Construire l'Architecture website.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
The methodology is detailed in the attached PDF (IASS scientific published article) :
- main concept ideas (U shape, bow string)
- construction phasing concept
- using BAYA algorithm for plans
- making a 1:5 model to define maximum resistance
- scale up the results to 1:1 object
- define reinforcement (anti buckling elements)
We also attach a second PDF (JASS article, still to be published - peer review in progress). This new article gives more elements of context about BAYA projects in general (building shells in wicker).

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
The very essence of the creation of les Utopies Constructives was to nourish the revival of the City and to help the encounters of young students and design to a local public. Beautiful and sustainable design are central features of the festival.
Wicker Footbridge will be one of the climax of the first edition. It will demonstrate that you can achieve a very difficult goal (crossing 13m with a very "poor" material) only using local ressources, traditional techniques (basketry) and students imagination (at the age of computational design).

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
During a first workshop, students built 6 separated parts of the bridge. During a second one, the parts were sewed together and we tried to buckle the arch into shape (see the video). In 2023 there will be a third workshop in order to densify the critical zones (handrail in particular). Only 250-300 kg have been used and we need to obtain 500 kg to reach the needed resistance.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
Both
PDF
- pdf-1-22749.pdf
Web link
- https://youtu.be/b_VzmqGCAds
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dCQwqk-tVM
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
Wicker can grow in most parts of Europe. We would be please to spread in other countries how we were able to use it for structural and architectural purposes !
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
- 03-J_IASS - Baya project - building shells with wicker.pdf
By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes