ArchXXL

On foot or by bicycle, come and discover the 20th and 21st century architectural heritage along the Var coastline. The Département du Var has launched the “Parcours Littoral d’Architecture Contemporaine” (Coastal Contemporary Architecture Trail), a trail which runs along the coastal cycle path and showcases contemporary architecture, cycling tourism, and short, family-friendly walks.

These public or privately-owned buildings in the Var were all built from the beginning of the 20th century, either as a result of the post-war reconstruction or of experimentations, and designed by well-known architects including Le Corbusier, Jean Prouvé, Fernand Puillon and Robert Mallet-Stevens. This built heritage mostly belongs to the modern movement that revolutionised social vision and architectural shapes. Some of the places and buildings are protected under the Historic Monuments listing or bear the Remarkable Contemporary Architecture label. Aware of the potential of this heritage in the Var, the Département du Var created a trail along the coastal path, with eight loops that can be done either on foot or by bicycle. To encourage intermodality, these loops can also be linked together by bike, bus train or boat.

This project led by the Département du Var belongs to the European-wide cross-border project Marittimo Intense, involving Corsica, the Alpes-Maritimes, Sardinia, Tuscany and Liguria.

How does it work? ArchXXL is an application providing commented tours. It tracks your location when you are moving around on foot or by bicycle and sends you audio and visual information when you approach architectural sites. You can go back to the homepage, to the page for the loop you are currently doing, see the trail map and location, and listen to the last audio commentary again, whenever you choose to.

Credits: Application designed by the Département du Var and created by AudioSpot. The "Parcours Littoral d’Architecture Contemporaine” (Coastal Contemporary Architecture Trail) is brought to you by the Conseil Départemental du Var.

About the project: The "Parcours Littoral d’Architecture Contemporaine” (Coastal Contemporary Architecture Trail) is a project from the Département du Var, and part of the European programme, Intense. It is co-financed by the cross-border programme “Interreg Italie-France Marittimo 2014-2020” which aims to develop tourism that focuses on eco-friendly modes of transport and intermodality as drivers of socio-economic growth.