New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

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

Email user
contact@orma-architettura.com

Basic information
Project title
Corsican deer observatories

Full Project Title
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Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
On the mountainous Mediterranean island of Corsica, local architecture office Orma Architettura has designed three unique viewing platforms, thought as a space for watching the endangered Corsican deer. This is an animal endemic to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia that almost disappeared during the late ’60s, but which has been saved thanks to a program of breeding begun in the 1980s.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Regional

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

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
All around the Regional Natural Park of Corsica
St Pierre de Venaco, Corse
Castifao,Corse
Quenza, Corse

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

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

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
Yes

Which fund(s)?
Conservation program of the Corso-Sardinian Deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus) in Sardinia and Corsica LIFE+ 2011 NAT/IT/000210 “One Deer two Islands”

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

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2017-07-06

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): Orma architettura
  Type of organisation: For-profit company
  First name of representative: François
  Last name of representative: Tramoni
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: France
  Function: Associate Architect DE HMONP
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Lieu-dit Bagna
  Town: Corte
  Postal code: 20250
  Country: France
  Direct Tel: +3304 95 56 10 52
  E-mail: contact@orma-architettura.com
  Website: https://www.orma-architettura.com/fr
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/orma_architettura/
In case my project 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 project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
Friends

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
The corsican deer, an endemic species that disappeared in 1969, is now resurrecting along the years thanks to a reintroduction program led by the Corsican Natural Regional Park in 1985. This program, very successful, is now entering a second phase mainly based on information and education in order to raise people’s awareness regarding the fragility of the species.
At first, Regional Natural Park of Corsica intended to order pre-manufactured observatories, but we have proposed to the Park to design them and to make them build by local artisans while respecting the budget.

The modest observatories, are located in the moutains of Regional Park of Corsica, scattered in three distinct areas: Venaco, Castifao and Quenza. Made of local wood (« Laricio » : andemic pine), they unveils an architecture at the service of nature. As evidenced by the interplay of shadow and light crossing the wooden slats, the project aims at blending into the landscape without actually disappearing.

Built by local artisans, the viewpoints all have matching rectilinear forms that resemble tree trunks, but are adapted to suit their specific locations. Each observatory is designed to be adapted to its ground, surrounding rocks for example, and also adapted to its context, especially the views we wanted to offer to observe the deers, which explains why some of the observtories are more vertical than others.
Each pavilion is adapated to its close and far environnement and has slatted walls that prevent the deer from seeing the people inside. Their bases are unevenly finished, where the slats extend down to slot precisely over the rockface, and echo the appearance of undergrowth

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
Natural resources

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Materiality

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Landscape

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Tradition

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
coexistence

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
To speak of sustainability means to turn towards the future, to live and act according to rhythms closer to the natural regeneration of resources. The project has been thought in a concern of reversibility, built with a living material (laricio pine) and without "deep" foundation, these observatories are doomed to disappear. The deer will regain possession of its territory and it is hoped that one day it will be possible to observe it without the need for an observatory and in respect of the territory.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project 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 project can be exemplary in this context.
Each observatory is designed to be adapted to its ground, surrounding rocks for example, and also adapted to its context, especially the views we wanted to offer to observe the deers, which explains why some of the observtories are more vertical than others. Each is adapated to its close and far environnement. Actually, we wanted to create a dichotomy, there are two different ideas that explain our process : on one hand, the slats of wood were supposed to recreate the idea of a undergrowth, like the shape of tree trunks you can walk by and see trough into the forest, there is an idea of blending in with nature. But, on the other hand, we didn’t wanted to erase the observatories, their position surrounding the Park, their verticality and architectural shape make them stand out of their environment.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project 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 project can be exemplary in this context.
The project has an educational goal, to allow children to visit these sites and to sensitize the youth. A tour and school outings are organized around these observatories. The observatories are accessible from 8 years old.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
The primary goal of this project is to raise awareness, to sensitize hikers, inhabitants for the preservation of the deer and the territory. We are all concerned, without exception, because adopting a sustainable lifestyle is a right rather than a duty.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
Their primary function for the public is to observe the deers. The locations have been chosen with Regional Natural Park of Corsica employees and somme local people that were very aware of the where abouts of the deersThe construction was done in collaboration with local craftsmen, carpenter of Corsica. To allow to cross the reflections, the know-how, to use the collective intelligence to develop new methods.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
The financing of the project could be done with the help of the LIFE program "one deer two islands" (European program), then we could work and discuss with the Regional Natural Park of Corsica (PNRC) in collaboration with its local partners Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage (ONCFS) the Direction Régionale de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement (DREAL), the Office National des Forêts (ONF), the Office de l'Environnement de Corse (OEC), Università di Corsica and the analysis laboratories, to understand the stakes of the project. Then for the construction we used corsican wood Laricio (andemic pine). The main part has been built local carpenters in their shed and transported by Helicopter on site. Once arrived, we adapted the slats and the structure to perfectly fit the rocks. A discussion between all the local actors allowed the realization of the project.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
This program, after having known a real success, enters today in a second phase. Mainly focused on information, it consists in setting up a strategy based on pedagogy in order to initiate the evolution of the essential mentalities with regard to the fragility of the species, the creation of another platform is on the way this one much larger to allow the realization of workshop or other. Moreover, the deer population has clearly increased.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
Both
PDF
- pdf-1-3288.pdf
Web link
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
Natural foundations, the use of rocks that are made available to us on site have allowed us not to damage the site. No earth has been turned over, dug up or damaged. It is the hazards of the site that draw the curves of the project.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
Our approach of territorial architecture is positioned in a militant will to fight against a generic production erasing the identity of a situation. To do this, we try to capture the atmosphere of a site, its moods, by questioning its emotional potential. We hope that the architecture created will have properties that will allow it to generate a relationship of tension with the existing.
To highlight the foundations of a site, we investigate it in the manner of archaeologists.
This work passes in particular by the comprehension of the vernacular architecture calling upon the culture of a territory in its materiality, its know-how, its typologies and its uses. We wish to appeal to the retinal memory in order to anchor the building in the collective imagination and that it finds all its legitimacy there.
By disregarding a formal research, we wish to enter in resonance with a site and what composes it. This primitive approach is carried out without the search of aestheticism but in a will to create a harmony. We wish to stimulate the cultural and material values of a site, which makes its specificity.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
The methodology remains the same but each project is unique. It is the process, the narrative to arrive at an "object" that is as important as the object itself. One feeds the other.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
The LIFE program "one deer two islands" for the conservation of the Corso-Sardinian Deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus) in Corsica and Sardinia, includes a series of actions that aim to improve the genetic variability of the current populations, create the environmental conditions best suited to the needs of the species, allow the monitoring and observation of specimens in the wild and ensure the anticipation of possible conflicts concerning the relationship between deer and human activities. The preservation of endangered species is one of the major global challenges.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
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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 project 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 project 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 projects, 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 project, 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