La Chaux-de-Fonds is a city filled with stories and specificities which make it unique. It is an industrial city lost in the jura mountains, situated at 1000m in altitude, world famous for its rich watchmaking history, and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But over the last decades, its population has been decreasing at an alarming rate. Many apartments are vacant, especially in the center. Because of its protection, renovations are costly, and despite the increasing vacancy rate, newer housing is being built in the periphery of the city, which encourages the emptying of the center.
THE COMMUNAL GRID
type: SHARED
function: COMMUNAL SPACE
apartment count: -44
- 44
Today, 17% of all apartments in la Chaux-de-Fonds are vacant, but only 4% are on the market.
It is estimated that the vacancy rate reaches 25% in the center.
Since 2016, the Lex Weber law forbids any district with a vacancy rate higher than 20% to construct new buildings or make any sort of change to its existing fabric. Although beneficial to smaller mountain villages which suffer from an excess of secondary homes, applying this law to a city whose vacancy results from depopulation would only make the situation worse.
AVAILABLE
TOTAL VACANCY
DAMIER ZONE
LEX WEBER
20 %
4.2 %
17.9 %
25 %
As a strategy to always remain below the 20% limit, vacant apartments can be removed and repurposed into communal space, losing their status of secondary homes. Through this gesture, novel and specific ways of living together can emerge which celebrate the heritage of la Chaux-de-Fonds and make it current again.
50% Vacancy
50% Vacancy
Communal Space
0% Vacancy
The true watchmaking urbanism of la Chaux-de-Fonds doesn’t lie in the facades of the buildings or the number of inhabitants, but in the city as a system made by and for its people, working and living together. The project aims to engage with the communities by getting them involved in the future of their city. Instead of looking at vacancy as apartments waiting to be moved into, we could view it as spaces of infinite possibilities.
EVERYTHING IS THERE, IT'S JUST A MATTER OF ARTICULATING IT IN NEW WAYS.
RECLAIMING THE LOST WATER
type: INFRASTRUCTURE
function: WATER RESERVOIR
apartment count: -18
- 18
HOSTING THE BORDERS
type: HOUSING
function: SHARED APARTMENT
apartment count: -56
- 56
THE COMMUNAL GRID
type: SHARED
function: COMMUNAL SPACE
apartment count: -44
- 44
- 6
THROUGH THE SHARED GARDEN
type: PUBLIC
function: PARC
apartment count: -6
- 64
THE ATELIER CAMPUS
type: PRODUCTION
function: APARTMENT-ATELIER
apartment count: -64
- 112
SQUARE OF CURIOSITIES
type: PUBLIC
function: SQUARE
apartment count: -112
- 8
HORIZON THEATER
type: EDUCATION
function: THEATER SCHOOL
apartment count: -8
- 64
THE ATELIER CAMPUS
type: PRODUCTION
function: APARTMENT-ATELIER
apartment count: -64
DAMIER VACANCY COUNCIL
type: ADMINISTRATIVE
function: COUNCIL
apartment count: -20
- 20
LOUIS AND THE CREATIVE SNOW
type: COMMERCIAL
function: SNOW DEPOT
apartment count: -14
- 14
RECLAIMING THE LOST WATER
type: INFRASTRUCTURE
function: WATER RESERVOIR
apartment count: -18
- 18
HOSTING THE BORDERS
type: HOUSING
function: SHARED APARTMENT
apartment count: -56
- 56
LOUIS AND THE CREATIVE SNOW
type: COMMERCIAL
function: SNOW DEPOT
apartment count: -14
- 14
HORIZON THEATER
type: EDUCATION
function: THEATER SCHOOL
apartment count: -8
- 8
THROUGH THE SHARED GARDEN
type: PUBLIC
function: PARC
apartment count: -6
- 6
THE COMMUNAL GRID
type: SHARED
function: COMMUNAL SPACE
apartment count: -44
- 44
DAMIER VACANCY COUNCIL
type: ADMINISTRATIVE
function: COUNCIL
apartment count: -20
- 20
SQUARE OF CURIOSITIES
type: PUBLIC
function: SQUARE
apartment count: -112
- 112
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