Ile de Nantes 2000-2010: a method for the meantime?

In this critique of the Ile de Nantes, the authors consider design as a means of intervening in the ever-ongoing dynamics of a site and judge change of space instead of state of space. They base their critique on a transformation analysis and offer an interpretation of site and design through micronarratives, from which they develop an evaluation of the plan-guide. As an alternative to the master plan that aims at static 'form' according to an urban model, they argue that the plan-guide, as a journey-form, supports urban 'trans-form-ation' beyond predefined models. After judging the plan-guide as particularly apt to steer the Ile de Nantes' first ten years of transition from old wharf to new city (the meantime), the authors point out some weaknesses that, if overcome, could enable the plan-guide to become a strategy for urban transformation based on an alternative framework.