In Situ (May 2018)
La construction de l’ancienne ambassade de France à Sarrebruck : le destin tumultueux d’un prototype devenu unicum
Abstract
Designed to promote good management in the service of diplomatic action, the former French embassy building in Sarrebruck is also, through its architecture and its location in the urban structure, a major component of a political project aiming to turn the autonomous Saarland state into the institutional headquarters of a pacified Europe, based on the economic cooperation between its member states. The building may be seen as a demonstration of the rational town-planning virtues theorized by the Athens Charter, and demonstrated in the reconstruction plans for the western neighbourhoods of the city. It is also an updated version of the ‘hôtel particulier’ or town house, situated between a courtyard and the garden, its volumes creating a smooth transition towards the historic city centre to the east. Through the architectural design and the spatial organisation, the architect Georges-Henri Pingusson aimed to draw attention to the figure of ambassador Gilbert Grandval, who embodied the intellectual and moral values guiding political action. He also conceived innovative systems for artificial and natural lighting and moving partitions, allowing for surprising ways to transform space. The furniture and decoration of the representation spaces was commissioned from famous interior decorators such as Raphael, representing traditional interior design, or Jacques Dumond, a significant member of the innovative tendency represented by the Union des Artistes Modernes. Several artists were in charge of mural compositions intended to solve delicate architectural situations while the painter Boris Kleint conceived a spatial arrangement for the employees’ quarters, inspired by research on the ‘synthèse des arts’ (art synthesis). This global cultural demonstration did not have its anticipated results, however, since Saarland was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany after the 1955 referendum. Well preserved until recently, the building is an outstanding testimony to a major period in Europe history and a unique demonstration of traditional French design skills and research in architecture and decoration of the time.
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