Preface
“When, in the future, art historians look back with sufficient hindsight at 20th century architecture, we cannot presume for sure what their judgments will be, but will they no doubt recognize that this era was marked by great creativity, a considerable evolution of construction techniques, and a desire to translate, in forms and functions, an idea of architecture related, if not even at the service, of the conceptions that this century has made of society, real or ideal.
The label «patrimony of the twentieth century», which bears no legal or financial consequences, was instituted not simply as a list of successes at the end of a selection based solely on aesthetic or functional qualities, but as a means of identifying, to leave all its chance in the future, what, today, seems to us characteristic of the construction and urban planning in the twentieth century. This architecture is in the image of its century, with its impetus and audacity, its certainties and its illusions. It involves great successes that have opened up new and profitable perspectives, and attempts whose rationality or aesthetics seem to us today as dead-end paths.
In Corrèze, as recorded by the Regional Commission for Heritage and Sites, the architecture of the 20th century is representative of this history. From the «regionalist» experience to the international architecture, including sports equipment and cheap housing, all these constructions, whether or not everyone appreciates them, according to his criteria of judgment, demonstrate the desire to accompany the profound changes in urban and rural life.»
This publication proposes to the reader to discover, or rediscover, this heritage. They also aim to contribute to a new way of looking at our environment, free of prejudices and a priori. '
The publication is available free of charge from the Regional Cultural Affairs Directorate of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
20th century heritage in Corrèze
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