But don’t read Vignoles as an attempt at redemption. With only ninety-eight residences and eleven studios, it isn’t a comprehensive solution, but rather a source of inspiration for other cities that are toying with the idea of eco-friendly public housing. Choosing Edouard François as the project’s designer was a great idea. He’s an accomplished architect known for incorporating excessive amounts of vegetation into his buildings (see his “Flower Tower” from 1999) and he possesses an of-the-moment hipness that garners media attention (see his cameo in one of Microsoft’s “PCs are cool, too” ads). Most importantly, with Vignoles, François sought to improve tenants’ daily life through small gestures, such as putting their mailboxes in greenhouses in order to soften the bad news that often comes via mail. While we can’t expect there to be rabbit hutches or climbing vegetation in all public housing, it would be nice to see more thoughtful touches like this.