réanime - HEAD – Genève X Fondation Clarté
The Immeuble Clarté in Geneva, designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in 1932, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. Its commercial premises on the ground floor, originally comprising shops, cellars, and garages, have undergone various transformations throughout its history and have remained unoccupied since the Indian restaurant Darshana, the last tenant, closed a few years ago. Starting in 2023, the Clarté Foundation is proposing the revitalization of this space through micro-interventions that will valorize the building's modern heritage.
For this inaugural project, the students of the Interior Architecture Department at HEAD – Genève utilized the derelict elements of the old restaurant as the foundational material for their creative endeavors. Under the title Réanime, their surgical, reversible, and chromatic interventions acted as the precursors to a forthcoming cultural space, enriching the understanding of the historical layers of the architecture and sparking new cultural initiatives.
The rejuvenation of the space unfolded in distinct phases, with the aim of systematically enhancing targeted, identifiable zones from the inside out. This involved dismantling the old interior finishings and decorations, revealing structural elements, and transforming the façade by reinterpreting the building's original shop windows. This strategy positions interior architecture at the forefront of perception, influencing how the space is experienced from within and viewed from the street.
