Even though the future Nantes is being built every single day, Île de Nantes is a fascinating example of a place where yesterday, today, and tomorrow all coexist. The challenge of rehabilitating this urban space is carried out under the benevolent gaze of the Grand Éléphant: the mascot of a city clearly unlike any other.
Île de Nantes uses its industrial heritage to better imagine itself in the future. It is a living neighbourhood and, given its constant transformation, one you discover every day for the first time.
The first chapter in the life of this district begins in the industrial era, with its former naval shipyards and merchant shipping.
When deciding to write its brand-new chapter, Nantes called out to France’s most prestigious architects — Jean Nouvel, Nicolas Michelin, Lacaton & Vassal, Christian de Portzamparc, and Franklin Azzi — and sure-fire bets, like Barré-Lambot, Forma 6 or Tetrarc. Île de Nantes aspires to being a neighbourhood where creative industries are in constant contact with one another: communication, design, architecture, visual arts… This network forms a hub of artistic and cultural excellence that moves forward under the banner of a “Campus de l’art” — a creative campus that Nantes’ fine arts and architecture schools are actively helping to build. Île de Nantes is part of an extraordinary environment, and it never forgets its natural borders and the Loire River, which is constantly showcased and enhanced through the creation of bicycle paths or walkways along its banks. And its many parks, like the Jardin des Fonderies, Square de l’Île-Mabon, or Jardin des Cinq-Sens, all add another dimension to this district, which is perpetually being written before our very eyes