CRITICAL :
"Congratulations Mr. Spoerry for this marvellous achievement, which, authorised by the public authorities, has finally made it possible to show men, with an impact that is still unequalled, the way you preach, perhaps without knowing it, decadence".
This sentence is the conclusion of an article written in 1972 by 3 architects, D.Amouroux, M.Crettol, J.P Monnet in their
'Guide to Contemporary Architecture in France',
shows to what extent François Spoerry's work has been strongly criticised and misunderstood. Favouring a horizontal construction respecting a Mediterranean architectural tradition went against the fashion of the time, driven by Le Corbusier's fame, with modern and cold constructions, avant-garde buildings for the time which were called "radiant cities", and which, 50 years later, have aged very badly, unlike PORT GRIMAUD.
Our lakeside town has become famous. It succeeds admiration. We have tried many times to copy it. It is now proudly and naturally part of the Mediterranean architectural landscape.
If our lakeside town is beautiful and admired, it was not built without difficulty. Not only bad criticism or mockery from other architects, but also administrative difficulties, many problems due to its unique design for the time. So our lakeside city has a history!
It is this 'adventure' that we would like to tell you here...
|