Il progetto culturale della Belle de Mai a Marsiglia. The cultural project of the Belle de Mai in Marseille.

The greater metropolitan productive areas abandoned are a strong potential in terms of volume and useful area for the city. In a lot of cases, recovery is mostly oriented towards creating artistic and cultural centers, which focus attention on the physical and functional redevelopment of historical artefacts and are intended to give new impetus to the quality of life of the neighborhood. A striking example is represented by La Belle de Mai in Marseille, a former tobacco factory, built in 1848. In 1992, after the disuse of the factory, you activate a cultural project for the reuse of the complex, triggering a process that will go, over time, to involve the entire area. It was found that, in this case, the actions and the policies adopted have encouraged a constructive dialogue between center and periphery that enhances the architectural aspects and addresses the needs of the community. It has reduced the pressure on the historic center, creating a new centrality and therefore new balances; furthermore the whole operation has proved an opportunity to mend the plot of the landscape of the city, in a sustainable way.