As large scale architectural projects go, this is pretty big, even down to the number of architects involved.

Located in Lyon, France, 'The Monolith' was born from a dialogue between the client ING (Frédérique Monjanel) and five European architects: MVRDV, Erick Van Egeraat, Manuelle Gautrand, Pierre Gautier, and ECDM (Emmanuel Combarel Dominique Marrec Architects).

The result is, in ECDM's words; “...a 5 hands” architecture, which the value and wealth result from the combination of common rules to a variety of treatments."

The Monolith aims to offer its users and inhabitants an inventive urbanity whilst allowing them to inhabit Lyon with its services, its cultural landscape, and its animation.

"it’s the duty of our project to preserve the qualities and values of the historic city by redefining a new, contemporaneous lifestyle, guided by two strong and converging aspirations: a modern environment and a healthy quality of life, taking into account the requirements for the implementation of sustainable development." say ECDM, continuing:

"Naturally, the purpose is to tend to a more complex city, in a 'Tetris attitude' considering combination, to put up scenarios for improbable events, to propose, without mimicry or formal posture, a sedimentation characteristic of the ancient city centres."

The approach is a programmatic one; the building encompasses shops, disabled residences, a residential hotel, traditional housing, social housing and offices.

The project is slice of urbanity, social realism, transversal proposal for diversity; a synthetic and ambiguous architecture with a common denominator: same quality of facades for all the included programs, the same envelope without any hierarchy or social expressionism, and a picture showing a cautious neutrality towards any functional determinism.