« Une maison de verre, transparente et claire ». L’hôtel de ville du Blanc-Mesnil (1967)

Abstract

Blanc-Mesnil’s town hall, built by André Lurçat in 1967, is a typical example of local communist policies, in a city with a communist municipality since 1935. This study tries to understand Lurçat’s political and architectural aims and to understand why this public building met different problems during its construction, and to analyse its urban influence on the city’s development after the Second World War. Blanc-Mesnil’s town hall is a singular building in Lurçat’s work, at a moment when he was mainly occupied building housing and schools. The place given to architecturally symbolic features, to light and to the union of the arts makes Blanc-Mesnil’s town hall belong to the tradition of typical public buildings, not only at the town’s scale but also for a political party. Its extension and successive adjustments show its extraordinary capacity for adaptation while preserving its original aspect.

Keywords

• André Lurçat
• architecture
• town hall
• Le Blanc-Mesnil
• communism