Théâtre Évolutif performs a collective action that demonstrates the cultural and physical remaking of the neighbourhood – an action that spans diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Through their direct involvement with the project, Saint-Michel residents are articulating a need for greater social innovation in the building of a sustainable city. They are giving new value to their identity with the neighbourhood and their commitment to it, even as they enact their vision of, as they put it, ‘how we want to live together’. For the municipal government, Théâtre Évolutif is a pilot project that tests a bottom-up approach to the design of the city. Time is an important aspect here. Place André Meunier and the Saint-Michel neighbourhood are currently in a state of transition, and the project itself reflects this: Théâtre Évolutif embraces the temporary. The roof structure, for example, is an open web – a modular and proliferating construction that can be extended or developed. The different areas can also be expanded and modified as needed by those who use it.
