INTRODUCTION
Located at 1850 m of altitude, Les Menuires is a great place for athletes as well as for families. Even though the majority of the activities are related to ski, they also have other types of activities. In the heart of Olympic Saboya, is located the ski resort Les Menuires that belongs to the zone known as the 3 valleys, the biggest ski resort in the world. Fully communicated by slopes and lifts it is accessible with a single pass: 200 lifts, 600 km of tracks, and multiple links between Les Menuires, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, Val Thorens, La Tania and Courchavel.
Les Menuires was a planned ‘ ex novo ‘ territory through an architectural competition held by a group of architects and has been working as a first class ski resort for 50 years. However, throughout the years society´s concerns and the way of living have changed drastically and have led authorities to rethink a change.
Exactly 50 year later, Les Menuires faces the intervention of their buildings so they can continue developing. Current standards of comfort make it imperative to rehabilitate the existing structures.
How should Les Menuires be in the next 50 years?
PROPOSAL
As part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the French destination Les Menuires, ARCHtopics together with the city hall of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, organized an ideas competition open to all faculties and School of Architecture of the world, for the creation of a collective use space in the center area.
The central zone of Les Menuires is occupied by a building of more than 300 meters long called ¨la Croisette¨. This great building is the main commercial hub of the valley and contains practically all of the uses and services of the station. Built in 1966, la Croisette present multiple deficiencies in the commercial area, for this reason it needs an intervention and a comprehensive rehabilitation.
The architecture competition proposes two ways for the commercial hub that rediscovers the splendor of Les Menuires in the XXI century.
A: Rehabilitation of la Croisette
B: New development (Complimentary to the existent)
