After enduring the bombing during WWII, this site was part of an urban renewal project in the 1970s. Finally, when the idea of a paving a motorway here was eventually abandoned, nature had already taken over. The site came to be called “La petite Amazonie” and is now a natural reserve with limited access.
The artwork remains visible, but cannot be approached too closely.
The project for Péage Sauvage (“wild toll road”) came about while art collective Observatorium was trying to understand this natural enclave’s raison d’être.
Observatorium, a Rotterdam-based collective, tries to place brackets around our everyday life by creating spaces in which individuals can immerse themselves. Observatorium tells a story by using a “contemporary fairy tale”: “If the project to build a highway ultimately allowed nature to flourish, our piece will allow it to take over urban spaces to an even larger extent.” An impressive wooden sculpture represents a section of motorway that is both a public place and an observatory for this unique natural environment.
This work requires maintenance and the necessary controls to reopen it to the public in the best conditions. This maintenance makes the site inaccessible during this period.
CREATED FOR ESTUAIRE 2012 AS PART OF A PUBLIC COMMISSION FROM THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION – DRAC DES PAYS DE LA LOIRE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE LPO’S CENTENARY, THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF THE EDF FOUNDATION FOR THE EDF GROUP.
La Petite Amazone
This exceptional marshland has been certified as a ‘Natura 2000’ site. Visit “La Petite Amazonie” with the Organisation of the protection of birdlife (LPO). T. 02 51 82 02 97
Petite Amazonie Chemin du Pont de l'Arche de Mauves 44000 Nantes
How to get there?
Parking(s) nearby: Parking Gare Sud 2
Public transport: Haubans, Écosse, Moutonnerie, Berlin
Self-service bicycles: Picasso (n°10), Tabarly (n°51), Moutonnerie (n°107), Manufacture (n°69)
