LMO Architectes
The project proposes a landscaped and architectural walk to discover, over the steps, the fossilized traces of majestic former inhabitants of our beloved planet earth: the dinosaurs.
Dinoplagne, the story of a palimpsest project. Traces of sauropods left 145 million years ago on these Terminal Jurassic limestone slabs characterize Plagne’s site, making it a unique paleontological treasure trove revealed on April 5, 2009.
How can we intervene on a site as powerful as it is fragile?
The project extends this idea of successive layers: to cover is to protect, to cover is to reveal. The structures used to protect the tracks and welcome visitors to the site are one and the same: a light covering, a new contemporary stratum, to protect the tracks and visitors. The dinosaur trail sets the tone: you’ll have to walk to discover the site. The project is a path. The path is covered and becomes the place to observe the tracks. The path becomes the reception building.
So as not to detract from the historical depth of the site, the project is laid down without taking root. It highlights the existing floors with local Jura wood. Its reversible character is assumed by the lightnesś of its construction. A long series of porticos supports the covering of the structures made of simple opaque or opalescent corrugated sheet metal.
The visitor is then scientifically initiated into the history of the site with the preciousness and intimacy of a cabinet of curiosities. In this archaic dwelling, a modest and primitive shelter, the shadow creates the place and stages the site’s treasure: the footprints of the dinosaurs. Here, time is above. Listen, you can even hear the muffled sound of giant footsteps on the ground, and we’re immersed 145 million years ago…
Author: LMO Architectes.
Landscaping: Alep Paysagiste.
Render: Rama Architectes.
Website: lamanufacturedelordinaire.fr
Location: Plagne, France.
Year: 2017