If the investigations on architecture of the second twentieth century are now about ten years old, this heritage remains largely less recognized by the edility and the public, hence the interest of the censuses and monographs proposed here. Logically, after the census phase, which delimited the corpus of ensembles and residencies in Marseilles in its extension, the aim was to reduce their contours in order to develop a greater understanding, formalized by the monograph sheets. By definition, they reflect only one object of the corpus, but all the monographs thus constitute a collection covering a series of similar objects allowing the construction of typologies, classifications and comparisons.
1.0402 - Beausoleil Residence
the 4th arrondissement, on the edge of the major boroughs of the periphery
Literature references: 20th century heritage, domestic architecture
n° répertoire édition X: 0402, p 8. 2005
Conception & writing T. Durousseau arch. 2007
designation: Beausoleil residence
1 boulevard de Roux extended, quartier de la Blancarde. 13004
Lambert 3: lat.3. 07267; long. 43.3083
Access: metro 1, La Rose - La Timone
bus no. 6: metro Chartreux - Bois Lemaître, bus no. 8: metro Chartreux - Saint-Julien
Owner: Syndicat des copropriétaires de la résidence Beausoleil
SIGAMA Trustee, 04 91 29 83 00
program: Housing group of 411 dwellings.
Client: Société Civile Immobilière Beausoleil.
Set of 7 buildings, mall.
dates, authors: Building Permits: 1957. Completion of works: 1960.
André Devin, architect, (Camille Giampietri, François Singer, architects cited), Guy Gensollen for the mall.
Laupiès Design Office.
Company, Société Phocéenne d'Entreprise et de Construction.
LOGECO financing.
site: On the eastern foothills of Huveaune and Haute Blancarde, on the edge of the Saint-Barnabé plateau. Land slightly sloping towards the east, altitude between 75.00 and 90.00 m. Residential area E on the Master Town Planning Plan of 1949.
mass plane: Very composed plan, across a new lane (boulevard de Roux extended) which adopts a great autonomy compared to the viaries. The lower buildings are in deference to the higher building.
Spreading between R+4 and R+19.
frame: Low-rise buildings with central stairwell, large building: distribution of duplexes by passageways. All concrete construction. Good general condition.
sources: AD: 2071 W 10 (33.205), 165 W 100-101, 150 J 72-75
Background:
The program is located on the grounds of the former Perrine Campaign, whose entrance gate was located to the east on Scaramelli Street. Given the size of the area, the proximity of a HBM city (La Feuilleraie, 175 housing units, G. Castel, 1952) and new housing programs, (l'Esplanade), the city will reserve some land for public facilities: a school, sports areas and finally a new route to connect Chemin de Montolivet to Avenue de Saint-Barnabé. It is therefore a detailed urban plan whose composition and implementation will be entrusted to André Devin who will have complete freedom to design the 630 housing units. It is probably within this framework of urban planning that we see the signatures of other architects on these operations, A. Devin having the role of chief architect. If the public facilities have been well implemented, the network of roads will never be realized leaving this small district in relative isolation, surrounded by the pavilion fabric of the Plateau of Saint-Barnabé. Accompanying this relative failure, the constructions will be made without any real consistency of spreading or orientation, giving the Beausoleil residence a strange rigidity in a disparate environment. A lack of legibility that does not redeem the dominant silhouette of the passageway building that emerges from the urban fabric and remains visible from all sides of the city.
Description:
Although the composition contrasts with the surrounding pavilion, it remains very well mastered, giving a good illustration of the doctrines of the moment in terms of mass plane. On the one hand, the orientation of the constructions in the north-west (direction of the prevailing wind, the Mistral) is completely independent of that of the new way. Without alignment, the public space is no longer bordered by a series of more or less tight redents. This type of device is significant for the open and anti-perspective ground plane. On the other hand, the composition of the masses is made from a wide cross-aisle to the boulevard de Roux, associated with a real urban door cantoned by two identical buildings that meet symmetrically on each side of the boulevard. In this first group, the 6 buildings perpendicular to each other have a constant height of 4 floors on the ground floor.
This constant spreading is only there to highlight the lighthouse building, high and tapered, plank 12 to 19 floors which was to be the centre of the composition of the Blancarde Highlands. Obviously, the lower and longer part of the building is related to the lower composition. As for the culminating part, it looks like a tower, centered on the perspective of the initial section of the boulevard. At the foot of this building, the misalignment will generate two triangles of equal importance, one to the west and the other to the south, whose park and garden services did not take advantage of what they deserved. This mixture of quite classic composition, centered objects both built on perspective and open mass plans is common among the author who often manages to bring together the freedom of modern architecture and the more standard setting of the historical and continuous city. In this program, A. Devin uses different types of housing. The lowest part consists of a distribution on a current model, serving two apartments per floor (3 and 4 rooms) with load bearing facades and longitudinal slitting, closer to the HBM structures than the transverse slits recommended then. The large building is composed of duplexes distributed by a passageway with very varied types of apartments from two to five rooms, from the duplex going up or down. A family atmosphere with the Cité Radieuse, but with typologies that the author has already experienced before for Sulfur City or Saint-Nicolas.
Author:
André Devin (1905-1983)
graduated in 1928, in the Bigot workshop. Before the war, he worked with E. Chirié then Y. Bentz. After the war, he took part in the reconstruction of the Old Port, which later built residential buildings and large hospitals in Marseille. For housing, we will remember:
Sulfur City, 1954,
The Pharo, 1956,
The Saint Nicholas, 1958,
The Beausoleil Residence, 1959,
The Cypresses and Paul Trompette, 1968.
He will participate in the major programs of the Industrial Sector:
The Blue Navy, 1958,
Consolat Mirabeau, 1962,
La Rouguière, 1963,
and Frais Vallon, 1964.
It is best known for some buildings in the beautiful districts such as the palazzine on Rue Jean Mermoz (1965).
Associated files:
- Map of the 4th district of Marseille
- Printable Monograph Record
© Thierry Durousseau, 2004-2005