Darwin's hangar
THE END OF THE MILI
The Bastide It was always a distant universe for the inhabitants of Bordeaux. The neighborhood, or rather: the concentration of industries and neglected streets, built on the other bank of the Garonne was not attractive to anyone. Just the majesty of Pierre's Bridge , built in the 19th century, spread a bit of lordship to the other end of the viaduct. Hence, it was always a kind of mixed bag of small factories, chaotic vacant lots and improvised docks. In this climate the Niel barracks was born, grew and died, a military complex born in 1850 from the need to bring together the troops deployed in the city in a single space. A situation that, in 2005, became absurd and prompted the authorities to close it down without a very clear plan for the future.
The French eco-sustainable destination
It was then that the little crazy things which ended up leading to Darwin . His main ideologue was Philippe Barré , a local businessman who had become an activist for ecology and sustainability and who dreamed of creating a greenhouse for companies betting on an alternative future. The dream became a reality when in 2009 the city council sold him the first stores and in 2013 the doors of this new universe opened, which he named after the famous English anthropologist. At the end of the day, don't let it be one more step in human evolution , or at least has this ambitious goal behind.
All organic, all with a conscience
A LABOR VORTEX
If the fantasies with which this project took off are grounded, the main result of the new life of the barracks is that of being a coworking founded on the Nowatt ideology . That is to say, that of minimize energy consumption by optimizing and monitoring its use , the schedules and the possibilities of synergies. In this way, the military buildings have been renovated to become two huge office complexes where technology start-ups, consultants, artist and designer workshops and creative agencies coexist. Not all of them have an ecological purpose in their ultimate purpose, but at least they do have embraced good practice s and have risen as ultimate defenders of them before their customers and suppliers.
For the visitor, this is the least accessible side of Darwin since workers don't want to feel like they're in a zoo so its doors are crossed by an access code. However, the 'Vortex' installation of Pierre Schneider and Francois Wunschel It adds an attractive and spectacular point to this particular environment. It is a kind of bridge that connects both masses made of wood and supported by a metal structure. In addition to being completely organic and aesthetically beautiful, the fact of being journey through different electrical veins through which halos of light that simulate electromagnetic impulses run is already the panacea. In addition, the fact that the color of these 'cramps' and the rhythm can be controlled, causing them, at night, to dance to the sound of the DJs that are located on the landing of this original catwalk.
vortex
ECO-EVERYTHING
Under the shelter of this wooden icon is the greatest exercise in coherence of the place. The ** Magasin General ** is a double space in which it is shown that gastronomy, hospitality and the purchase of the week can have the ecological seal without too many complications. In its restaurant sector, its menu tries to make simple dishes and cocktails made with ingredients obtained from the agriculture and organic farming . To this is added a retro, hipster decoration, very reusing everything and the equation is perfect. The experience is not merely gastronomic, but the fact of being able to eat surrounded by eighties icons in its video game space or bottle racks of ecological Bordeaux wine in its charming ' Wine Bar ' makes it unique. Also, its own eponymous beer it is, in itself, a claim, as if the only pairing that it would allow was to be taken on the chipped sofas or on the rough and long wooden tables.
General Magazine
For its part, the store enjoys, if possible, more popularity. Here it is easy to find neighbors who, after parking their bicycles, proceed to do the day's shopping. Beyond the fact that it is a beautiful trade, the incentive of acting as a sampler of responsible food from all over the country already satisfies the curiosity . And even more so when the flavor continues to be the protagonist of juices, cheeses, sausages and all kinds of delicacies that combine salivation with awareness without uncomfortable radicalisms.
General Magazine
OTHER ARTS, OTHER SPORTS
The old complex Caserne Niel it included more buildings and warehouses beyond the Siamese barracks. However, the new use that has been given to these chipped buildings has been more alternative. The fact that there is attracted so many young and disruptive people has allowed its foundations today to host initiatives as curious as the French bicycle polo championship, the street version of this elitist discipline. Or that he skate park have your own Sistine Chapel in the **Darwin Hangar** where structures created for skateboarding are combined with some outstanding murals.
skateboarding as a way of life
The urban art it has become the other great ally against abandonment and allows Darwin not to seem incomplete, but alive and throbbing. Or what is the same, the fantastic transition from being 'dangerous' to being welcoming. The museum is not yet cataloged, but there are some icons such as the impressive ape that reigns in the south building and that, threateningly, promises a new era, a new planet, but without any Tim Burton pot going.
Street art fills the walls of the Darwin project
THE NEW GOLDEN AGE OF TÉTRODON
The exterior promenade allows you to find some curious capsules that camp freely throughout the complex . Its about Tetrodon , a module created in the 60 by designers Bordeaux AUA which, in its time, was all the rage among the growing camping-loving public. Its charm lies not only in being a 'kitsch' icon, but in having been reused in Darwin for new uses such as being a workshop for artists and illustrators or even to become a tattoo studio as alternative as a cultureta. A very successful metaphor of how the past has a place in the future, but with another use.
Tetrodon
DARWIN LA NUIT
Although its nightly public is a little smaller, it is still curious to go to the back and see how they are organized DJ sessions of international renown, concerts and parties between the most worn walls . A great atmosphere that has its little alternative outside, where those who have not wanted to pay the entrance but want to enjoy the music gather in secret. However, whether or not you are a fan of this type of gibberish, the night also includes an evening with speakers on the terrace of the Magasin , where the lights of the Vortex are propelled following a somewhat spidiic heart rhythm.
Darwin La Nuit
WONDERFUL EPIDEMIC
Darwin's impact on Bordeaux has two very marked aspects . On the one hand, there are the establishments that have followed the line of respect, sustainability, slow food and success of their store. In ** La Recharge **, these convictions reach such a point that they even affect the packaging since they force each client to go with their own container and everything is sold in bulk. For its part, the craft brewery PIP feeds on the microbrewery fever fueled by Darwin to become the champion of this new generation of fermented juices born for pairing and gourmet.
The second expansive wave is the one that has turned the La Bastide neighborhood upside down, in which contemporary architecture and mural art are its two preferred languages. The first can be enjoyed in spaces such as the new tram hangars , the municipal archive or the botanical garden, a park where plants coexist with modules, small buildings and flower beds created by the best designers in the city. Urban creativity has in sculpture pop-art 'Le Lion de Veilhan' from Stalingrad Square its first bourgeois approximation, although the most daring murals have been concentrated on the walls of the municipal archive, curious and magnetic on this side of the river.