Between Nice and Roquette-sur-Var, a section of departmental road turns into a landscaped area that the motorist will discover at his speed.
The taking into account of the landscape in the planning process and the design of works linked to the RD 6202bis has been confirmed by the Faragou agency project according to a dual approach: cultural and environmental. Cultural because the development plays on reciprocity between the road, the motorist observer, the hills of Nice and Provence, the hilltop villages, the banks of the river and the agricultural zone. Environmental because the solutions implemented – use of site resources (water, soil, minerals) and the search for a plant range adapted to the conditions and to the identity of the places coupled with innovative biodegradable mulching solutions – inspire a “land art” effect up to the development of plant masses.
A sequential arrangement
Building in the manner of a film that unfolds, from the geographical and hydraulic components and the plot in place, the composition of the project is punctuated by scenes (7 in total) open and closed on the river side (natural area) and by an alignment of olive trees and “monochrome tasks” gardens, on the land side (agricultural zone). “This equipment has been specially designed for pumping water over the wind,” underlines Alain Faragou, landscape designer for the operation.
A city entrance to Nice
The Baraques roundabout begins the crossing of the Var and constitutes the link between the current RD 6202, on the left bank of the river, and the future RD 6202bis, on the right bank. Its strategic position gives it the important role of the city entrance, the first road facility serving Nice from the hinterland. Conversely, it materializes the landscape door of the future path. The composition of the roundabout project is organized around a north / south axis, general direction of the valley and the prevailing winds. This axis is materialized by a horizontal Cyclopean base made of electro-welded cages of pebbles symbolizing the dike built in the last century. “This rolled material with an average grain size of 50/120 mm reduces the risk of overflowing in the event of a flood. Available on the site, its use avoided a flow of 1,500 trucks on the roads during the site in the event of external supply and therefore constituted an environmental asset in a logic of sustainable development “notes Alain Faragou. Two groves compress the architectural wall, one symbolizing the natural banks of the Var, with Cappadocia maple swords, the other made up of evergreen species of umbrella pines, Provence cypresses and palm trees. in the gardens of Azure.
A curtain of colors on the dike
The sculpture highlighting the level of the dike is the work of Bernard Pagès. It is made up of 10 elements gathered in 2 groups which correspond to each other along the median axis of the roundabout. Colored curtain where rigidity and flexibility intermingle, it is oriented north-south and sometimes seems to bend to the gusts of the sea, sometimes to fray delicately in the breeze coming from the mountain. The most rigid elements, bright yellow, draw luminous rectilinear lines, crossing the plant mass. After 4 years of studies, the 1st phase of the project (15 ha and 8 km long) was planted with 1,700 trees, 82,000 shrubs and 38,000 grasses, watering, by wind turbines, being supplied by pumps. serving in the water table of the Var. More than 1,000 soil restructuring and 4 ha of biodegradable mats have supported the HQE (High Environmental Quality) approach of the project.
