the 7th and 8th PHASES

Construction of the 7th and 8th phases :

"There was no functional need to include colonnades, fountains, frescoes, all the traditional elements that have the function of animating the city, linking it to a long tradition, preventing it from being monotonous..." François SPOERRY.

The seventh tranche :

       It consists of the Rue du Ponant and l'Île au Couchant, with 86 houses.
       Work began in January 1969 and the first houses were delivered in spring 1970.

       For this section, François SPOERRY rectified a small problem that had arisen during the construction of the previous sections:
       Walking is not necessarily a universal passion. At the end of the 1960s, the car was already ubiquitous and few owners seemed enthusiastic about leaving their cars in the entrance car parks.
       For this reason, the architect was obliged to introduce a significant innovation in this section:
                         Placing car parks near the houses. Thus in the middle of Rue du Ponant, the new co-owners could leave their vehicles in numbered spaces. On the other hand, if the houses on the left of the street kept small gardens, the facade of those on the right side, opens directly onto the street.

photo aérienne de la 7eme et 8eme tranches en construction

Aerial view of the construction site in February 1969.

rue du Ponant en construction

Rue du Ponant on 07/10/69: The streets of Port Grimaud are always built as a series of islands, sometimes long, sometimes short, separated by squares or small ports,

lme ponant

Rue du Ponant on 07/10/69

le Ponant

le 07/01/70: photo taken from the entrance of the île du Couchant. The bridge is under construction... br>

a stone head

       In September 1969, the workers working on the construction of a new section discovered a stone head slightly larger than a hand and obviously very old.

       The expertise made by M. Ferron, specialist in ancient oriental civilizations, concludes that it was a representation of the solar God of Carthage Baal-Hamon, nicknamed the "African Saturn", found on the remains of the Greek Port of Athenopolis...

       As no remains of this port remain, it is very difficult to locate it exactly. In 2019, the most widespread thesis concerning the implantation of Athenopolis is the bottom of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez based on the ancient mentions of Pomponius Mela.

       During the Revolution, the inhabitants of Grimaud would have renamed the commune Athénopolis...

Vue aérienne des travaux de la 7eme et 8eme tranches

The 2 islands are being finished

L'île du Couchant :

L'île du Couchant.

Ile du Couchant

construction of the bridge on île du Couchant

ile du Couchant

Yesterday and today...

ile du Couchant

Aerial view of the île du Couchant. The only thing missing is the Big House at the end of the island...

the 8ème tranche :

It consists of the Isle aux Pins with 40 houses grouped around a very pretty square shaded by a magnificent umbrella pine that the architect preserved: The construction plans included this majestic guest, who thus found himself in the middle of a vast garden quay...

The pine tree around which the houses will be built...

This area of Port Grimaud is certainly the most beautiful, the most luxuriant. The quietest too. It is reached by a small bridge with two arches. Then you have to cross, like a border, a vast porch which delimits the entrance.

The bridge under construction.

construction du pont

And the front porch and the houses come out of the ground

construction du pont

Le pin parasol :

This majestic pine, saved by the architect who preferred to build the island around it rather than spider it, lived until 2008. A heavy storm hit the city. The pine was destroyed by the violent wind and heavy rain that soaked the ground...

The umbrella pine, before the tragedy, in the middle of his garden.

Pin de l(Ile aux Pins

The disaster ...

ile des Pins finie

The Isle of Pines finished

The porches :

Some of the porches that can be discovered in the lake city...

porches

       Inspired by ancient cities, the porches found in several places in Port Grimaud delimit the passage from one neighbourhood to another, from a public area to a more residential space.
       They bring "moments of shade and freshness", they "create the event, the mystery, the unusual, the surprise"...

       2 porches can follow one another in the same street, as here in rue de l'île Longue...

There are 16 porches in total in the whole lake city. 11 at PG1. 2 at PG3 and 3 at PG2.