historique de la cité lacustre Port Grimaud

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Construction of Île aux Pins

HISTORY of the lakeside city :

     DISCOVER the construction of the lakeside town, accompanied by numerous photos taken during the works.
     This history deals mainly with the construction of the first part called PORT GRIMAUD 1. It is of course the largest with its 22ha, including 13ha of water, 1,100 dwellings, 834 berths including 250 for rent, and the richest in archives.
     Mr François SPOERRY's architectural office had opened its doors and documents to us.
     The photos of the building site, taken once a month during the works, had been lent to us.
     Some co-owners who lived during this period also gave us help and support.

     On the other hand, we could not find the photos of the construction site concerning the construction of PORT GRIMAUD 2 and 3 which lasted, respectively from 1973 to 2002 for the second entity and from 1978 to 1993 for the third. They have apparently been destroyed... Some plans, sketches and photos remain, which we have grouped together on 2 pages: "Construction of the water ring" and "Construction of PG2 and PG3"...

Development sketch of the Gulf of Saint Tropez

Click on the picture to enlarge it

This sketch of the bottom of the Gulf of Saint Tropez dates from 1963. It was created, under the advice of Jean Louis Théobald, to present a global development plan for the bottom of the gulf in order to support the ‘Port Grimaud’ dossier before the authorities. The architect imagined his Port Grimaud in the form of a village folded in on itself in concentric circles, opening onto the Giscle, a mixture of Ramatuelle and Aigues-Mortes. However, as we shall see, the design of the project was refined to give way to a more complex layout in the shape of an open hand...
The villages of Bourrian and Saint Pons that we see on the sketch were never built.

Aerial view of the building site 1967

HIPPODAMOS :

     Few architects have created an entire village like Port Grimaud.
     The best known before Mr. Spoerry was HIPPODAMOS who, in 494 BC, was commissioned to rebuild Milet, which had been totally destroyed by the army of Darius, King of the Persians.
     Closer to us, under Louis XIV, VAUBAN, inspired by the Hippodamian plan, built, in 1697, "Neuf-Brisac" in the department of Haut-Rhin...

A REAL village :

     François SPOERRY's ambition was not to build a vast residential estate, mainly frequented by holidaymakers, but to create a real village that would live all year round with boat-loving inhabitants, craftsmen and local shops.
     A village is houses around a church, a town hall, a main square with cafés and shops...
     The architect therefore built, at his own expense, a beautiful church, a common house which was to house an annex of the Town Hall of Grimaud, a post office but also a cinema room, as a gift to the Association of New Owners of PORT GRIMAUD. And as he wanted all the houses and flats to have a telephone line at the time of their sale, he offered a plot of land to the 'Post and Telecommunications' of the time, on which he built this building at the entrance of PG2 so that a large telephone exchange could be created!

     This new village had to have income to be able to live. So the architect offered it, in addition, the large car park for visitors at the entrance of the town which brings in several thousand €uros every year as well as the rental of many mooring places. The maintenance of the church is financed by visits to the bell tower...

The building at the entrance of PG2, offered by the Architect to the "Postes et Télécommunications" to house a large telephone exchange...
This building will be demolished in 2021 to make way for a building that will be rented out on an annual basis. However, part of the building still houses an Orange headquarters.

Construction of the Town Hall and the Church in 1969 photo: Archives

Construction of the 'Rond'Eau' 1972

The SCI PORT GRIMAUD :

The 'Rond d'Eau' :

Construction of PG2 and PG3 :

Port Grimaud in percentage :

Venetian gondolas in the city :

Twinning with Venice

Claude Graf and the seaplane :

A seaplane moored in the city :

The 20th anniversary medall :

a 'super' Port Grimaud :

INTERVIEW of M. SPOERRY :

Mr François SPOERRY agreed to answer our questions...

François Spoerry has left us... :

on Monday 11 January 1999.

The "Courrier de Port Grimaud" :

Newspaper created by François SPOERRY

The fish of Port Grimaud :

The symbol of Port Grimaud

1st optical in PORT GRIMAUD :

A first for fiber optic communications .
The 'Calades' of PORT GRIMAUD :

... inspired by the calades of Lisbon... .

A text by Henri Troyat :

...published in 1969

A drawing by Sempé :

...published in the magazine l'EXPRESS in 1969

      Port Grimaud in music :

                 In 1969, Isabelle, niece of Louis de FUNES, released a single...
                 Brigitte Bardot sings in Port Grimaud in 68...
                 Laurent Voulzy sings "Grimaud" in 87...

Art and Culture :

Some personalities who came to Port Grimaud..

Georges MONIN :

The painter of Port Grimaud...

Serge MENDJISKY :

36 gouaches inspired by the Divisionist School gathered in a box set...

Jean-Claude BONNET :

She was the oldest shopkeeper :

She created her first boutique in 1967...

Brigitte Bardot and François Spoerry, place des 6 Canons, during the filming of the television show "Le Bardot Show" in 1967

Some particularities :

Some 'details' about Port Grimaud...

L'Amphitrite :

Le 'sailing school' of François SPOERRY...

F. SPOERRY and abbé PIERRE :

Abbé PIERRE appealed to François SPOERRY...

Anne SPOERRY :

François SPOERRY's sister or the FRENCH DOCTOR "Mama Daktari"...

L'amref :

Association for Medicine and Research in Africa...

Underwater life at PORT Grimaud :

There's life in the canals...

Vidéos about Port Grimaud :

Videos about the lake city...

GUIDED VISIT :

Short trip to the church square...

The PORT GRIMAUD DOORS :

WINDOWS and BALCONIES :

THE ENSABLISHMENT :

A recurrent problem...

Les PALPLANCHES :

The sheet piling caused major problems because of the "wandering currents" that have to be cancelled with the installation of anodes....

Le 'Domaine Maritime' :

On 13 March 1969, a letter from the Direction des Ports Maritimes et des Voies Navigables, part of the Ministry of Equipment and Housing at the time, addressed to the Prefect of the Var, defined the special status of the Cité Lacustre.

History made with the help of Jean Pierre OGEDA, the Cabinet d'Architecture of François SPOERRY, Madame MABILEAU, the newspaper 'Le Courrier de PORT GRIMAUD', the magazines 'Connaissance de Port Grimaud', the book PORT-GRIMAUD et la côte des Maures published by alpha, not reissued, the booklet by Jacques BRETTEVILLE published by Ouest France, 'Port Grimaud' and Architect François SPOERRY's book 'L'architecture douce' de Port-Grimaud à Port-Liberté, published by Robert Laffont, not republished...

"Once upon a time Port Grimaud" was the name given to the exhibition on the history of the lakeside town, presented from December 1994 to June 1995 at the restaurant :

THE WORK of François SPOERRY...

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