Joliot-Terrasse Club

Taking cues from sport clubs, the Joliot-Terrasse Club (JTC) was founded in 2013 with young people from the Antenne Jeunesse youth organisation at Joliot-Curie housing estate in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris. The club was formed to create a mobile terrace on-site as part of a community volunteer project.

Building on the Made in Joliot project, Cochenko initiated and supported the project, which was the first co-design initiative commissioned by a social and educational organisation. In 2013, the Antenne Jeunesse branch had only just been established, as part of a broader renovation of the housing estate (the ANRU programme) that had not provided for improvements to the outdoor areas. The organisation’s coordinators wanted to create a connection between the indoor and outdoor areas and provide a comfortable place to spend time next to the buildings – with the help of the young residents. The housing authority insisted on one important point: none of the furniture could be left out at night, so that the area would remain quiet for the neighbours. Cochenko proposed to work with young Antenne Jeunesse participants from the outset to design and build mobile furniture. Antenne Jeunesse sponsored the project with funding from Saint-Denis and the Plaine-Commune urban community. Three co-design workshops were held at Antenne Jeunesse, followed by an open, on-site building project that lasted seven days. About 30 young people took part in the initiative from beginning to end. The finished product is a 20-unit mobile terrace that spans 100 square meters.