Lyon Part-Dieu business area

Lyon Part-Dieu is the Central Business District of Lyon Metropolis, France. Since 2013, the site is undergoing a restructuring, in order to make this part of the city a place that’s as inviting to live and work in as it’s easy to reach (the train station is in its center). The goal of the urbanism project is to modify without having to use heavy works and without destructing parts of the area: a more responsible way to consider the impact of construction works on the city and its inhabitants.

The urban planning and architectural project is carried out by AUC Paris: for the graphic design, they collaborated with studio Encore led by Quentin Brachet. Lyon Part-Dieu needed an encompassing brand identity that could also be used during the development of the project, for communicating about it. All parts of the identity can be animated: the logotype, whose ribbon arrives and leaves from the format, evoking the dynamism of the district; the grid pattern, with its different shades of red that create moving volumes and sparkling surfaces.

The identity uses Synthese, designed by Gilles Poplin and Jean-Baptiste Levée and available from Production Type. Synthese is visible wherever there’s information that should catch your attention: titles, diagrams, maps, etc. While Synthese (2012) is a kind of archetypal sans from the 20th century, it has more personality in its design than most of the modernist and Swiss predecessors, especially in its bolder versions. Synthese is paired with Sabon by Jan Tschichold (not shown here), which is used exclusively for long texts. One of the goals of the project was to make of Lyon Part-Dieu district a place where you want to stay, and not just pass by: the use of Synthese, and its welcoming design, is part of this process of bringing an area closer to people.

See also Synthese in use for the Lyon Part-Dieu train station.