Aixcentric Expat Living and Real Estate Living in Provence

Aix-en-Provence La Constance an Urban Development Project

By Aixcentric:

Long before the A8 autoroute came along with its thundering heavy traffic, it was easy for Paul Cezanne to wander across to the plateau at La Constance from the family bastide at Jas de Buffan, to paint the Mont Sainte-Victoire, the Pilon du Roi and the new viaduct taking the railway line into Aix. Even more reason to visit as when, in 1886, his young sister Rose and family moved to the 18th-century Bastide Bellevue, perched on the slope. …Read about Cezanne’s works produced from this special place.

Long after the famous artist’s passing the city is paying a tribute to his work and the place that inspired him. Aixcentric writes,

A whole new quartier, La Constance, is being developed to the south west of the town: one of the first buildings to emerge will be SMAC, Salle des Musiques Actuelles du Pays d’Aix. And courtesy of architects Ricciotti-Battesti, this is what it will look like:

Interesting! The 2.8m euro building will be covered by a concrete shell to make it look like a rock, and vegetation will add a natural aspect. SMAC will be a venue for all sorts of music. …Continue reading here to learn more about this urban development project.

La Constance and Cézanne

The official website for La Constance (in French) with a map of where Paul Cézanne painted and details on the historic properties.

The population of Aix-en-Provence grew from 28,000 in 1900 to 143,000 in 2014. The need for planned urban expansion to accommodate the city’s residential needs was identified in the 1990s, and La Constance was identified as a suitable prospective area (for study) in 2001. As with any urban densification project, there are many elements to consider. There remains work to be done before this development gets the green light to proceed, in July 2019. The detailed timeline is below:

Société Paul Cézanne website for detailed information (also in French) on the artist, his letters and the places he painted.

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Tags:Aix en Provence,Living in Provence,Paul Cezanne

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Lynne Alderson

Aixcentric was set up by Lynne Alderson three years ago as a channel to send out info on events taking place around Aix as well as news, relevant books, the latest films, new shops and of course where to eat locally. Why?

According, to Lynne:

"It came about out of frustration with the lack of communication in the town. Posters would suddenly go up about an event that week. No prewarning. I had difficulty too in finding information from many of the tourist offices. Things are slowly getting better and there is sometimes information in English. Hopefully by keeping an eagle eye on the local press and talking with contacts in town, I can publicize fun things that people would otherwise miss. It's a ragbag of info that I come across on my travels. I've published nearly 600 posts now and have lots of followers so hopefully, it is fulfilling its role of helping people, residents and visitors alike, get the most of their time in Aix."

For what is going on in Aix-en-Provence, Lynne has you covered at Aixcentric