In Situ (May 2021)
Le rationalisme structurel à la rencontre des programmes de lycées (1860-1900)
Abstract
The architectural scene of the 19th century was animated by profound debates in which doctrines and personalities strongly opposed each other. Among them, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was, of course, a prominent figure. The famous architect would not rest until he succeeded in imposing his own conception of architecture in the field of the built landscape of his time. Failing to carry weight in the great institutions (such as the École des beaux-arts, the “Institut” or the “Conseil général des bâtiments civils”, the Civil Buildings General Council), he took part in the creation of new bodies which counteracted the previous institutions, such as the “École spéciale d’architecture”, the Special School of Architecture, or encroached on their power, such as the “administration des édifices diocésains”, the diocesan buildings administration, that included many architects rallied to his cause. The avowed goal through this, was to create a real “school” that would have the responsibility for investing by all means in a maximum number of programmes. Among those, the ones that held a strong functional and technical component were most favoured in order to ensure the triumph of structural rationalism as advocated by Viollet-le-Duc. The high schools of the 20th century were clearly part of this kind of programme: number of architects of the “école diocésaine”, the diocesan school, granted themselves the commission of this type of buildings (Vaudremer in Grenoble, in Montauban and at the Lycée Molière in Paris, Baudot in Sceaux, in Tulle and at the Lycée Victor-Hugo in Paris, Abadie in Angouleme, Lance in Mont-de-Marsan, Laisné in Guéret, etc.), where appropriate through the "Commission des bâtiments des lycées et collèges », the secondary schools buildings Commission. The mechanisms of this architectural « entryism » are still relatively unknown and would require an in-depth research. However, this study can begin to outline a few leads of research based on the historical data that are available, analyse the common features of the architectural achievements in this field and point out at the same time that, since it concerns the high schools, doctrinal issues must be considered at the national level and not the regional one.
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