Market at Blagnac (France)

Location: Blagnac, France
Arch. Coll.: Calvó – Tran Van (Toulouse)
Year: 1988
M²: 1.600
Promoter: Blagnac Municipality
Builder: Municipality Company

The number of Catalans who were exiled in southern France, after the civil war, suggested to the authorities of Blagnac (township on the outskirts of Toulouse, where the airport is) the possibility of dedicating a square, the Plaza de Catalonia, as already exists in other French towns. The customer asked us a draft “Barcelona style” and although one knows what the Catalan Cream is, which is the Catalan architecture, with or without cream, did not seem so obvious. Because when we started the designing process, like the floors that were “climbing” by the walls and street furniture, the rigid French rules forced us to reach agreements and commitments that have nothing favored the development of the project. Finally to put the record straight, the year 1989 was the celebration of the bicentennial French Revolution, which led the entire budget line to another memorial plaza and the square of the Catalans were limited to one of the two sides sidewalks, with some streetlights that without the rest, lost all his strength.