La Ballade Promenade / Leclercq Associés

On the occasion of La Grande Motte’s 50th anniversary, the Leclercq Associés agency has redesigned the Pompidou and Tabarly docks, a project inspired by the codes of the 1970s seaside resort. This new promenade marks a promising first step for the continuation of the Ville Port (city-port) project. * from beach to beach... the word «ballade» (ballad in English) is spelled with two «L»s when it refers to a poem, a piece of music or... act 2 of La Grande Motte! It’s a tribute to Jean Balladur. La Grande Motte has long epitomized the massive concrete development of the coastline and symbolized the clichés of popular tourism. However, the futuristic city envisioned by Jean Balladur in 1963 is a model of environmental urbanism, promoting lifestyles that are both modern and nature-oriented, favoring pedestrian life and the slow rhythm of the sun’s course. Inspired by the Mayan pyramids of Teotihuacan and the white concrete curves of Brasilia, Balladur managed to blend the geometry of modern architecture with its pyramidal shapes, with the coastal dunes and the Cévennes mountains.