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Meeting on the Threshold

The Champs-Fréchets neighbourhood holds a singular position: located on the outskirts of Geneva, it straddles the line between city and countryside, just steps from the French–Swiss border. In essence, it is a threshold – a space of transition where dynamic tensions unfold between “one” and “the other”, and where the very notion of boundary invites continuity. How can we foster encounters in this ambiguous, in-between space? How can we sublimate this liminal condition and turn it into a resource?

As part of the efforts to redevelop public spaces and replant vegetation in Champs-Fréchets – a project led in collaboration with landscape architecture firm ECHO – least has invited artist Davide-Christelle Sanvee to engage in a co-creation process with the local community. Through a series of site visits and discussions with key stakeholders, including the Champs-Fréchets residents’ association, the idea of “thresholds” emerged as both a concrete and symbolic starting point for a shared reflection on how public space could be reimagined and better used.

The project invites the public to take part in this collective reflection by gathering around key elements, whether already present or newly created, identified in dialogue with the artist. These anchor points serve as catalysts for connection, sparking new interactions and encouraging fresh ways of inhabiting shared space.

What we’ve done

Through fieldwork based on direct encounters and word of mouth, the project began by strengthening existing ties and bringing out the community’s needs and imaginations, placing them within a perspective of collective and inclusive appropriation of public space. This momentum continued in the summer of 2025 during a creative and festive day at Champs-Fréchets with Davide-Christelle Sanvee, where collage and DIY workshops around collective flags, a walking tour, a meal, and a convivial aperitif allowed residents to share their desires and sketch out the contours of a common future together as part of the neighborhood’s revegetation project.

What we’re doing

The co-creative teams are working on the next stages of the project, striving to combine the wishes and stories heard during the early phases of the project, particularly around the issue of redeveloping the hill and its potential for identity and social interaction.

What’s next

The project is entering a new phase with co-creative workshops bringing together different groups of residents, in partnership with local associations. Led by artist Davide-Christelle Sanvee, they will give a voice to the neighborhood’s iconic locations to reveal their symbolic and emotional significance. These stories will feed into a collective performance, museum panels in public spaces, and a reference tool for urban planners and institutions, in order to imagine the neighborhood in a more human and creative way in collaboration with the ECHO office. The collective work around a flag will also continue, as a symbol of identity and a signal for the hill.

transdisciplinary team

Davide-Christelle Sanvee - artist
Arnaud Gil - landscape architect
Antonella Vitale - architect and resident of Champs-Fréchets
Association of the Residents of Champs-Fréchets (AHCF)

least would like to thank all the people that contributed to the project by sharing their time, knowledge and resources: