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Hôtel de Ville, Le Blanc-Mesnil

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Coordinates: 48°56′20″N 2°27′50″E / 48.9388°N 2.4638°E / 48.9388; 2.4638
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Hôtel de Ville
The main frontage of the Hôtel de Ville in May 2020
Map
General information
TypeCity hall
Architectural styleModern style
LocationLe Blanc-Mesnil, France
Coordinates48°56′20″N 2°27′50″E / 48.9388°N 2.4638°E / 48.9388; 2.4638
Completed1967
Design and construction
Architect(s)André Lurçat

The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is a municipal building in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, standing on Place Gabriel Péri.

History

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Rear view of the town hall showing the fleche (spire)

In the mid-19th century, the town council established their first municipal office in a hunting lodge commissioned by the Count of Lavau, who was heir to the Delley de la Garde family.[1][2] The family's ancestor Nicolas de Delley de la Garde had served as advisor to both Louis XV and Louis XVI in the 18th century.[3]

The council relocated to a building on Avenue Descartes (now Rue Édouard Renault) from 1883,[4] but this quickly proved inadequate, especially as the building also incorporated a school, and in 1912, the council moved to a purpose-built town hall in Avenue de Drancy (now Rue Henri Barbusse).[1] The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage facing onto Avenue de Drancy. There were two doorways and three casement windows on the ground floor, four casement windows with cornices on the first floor, and four casement windows without cornices on the second floor. The windows on the upper floors were flanked by large panels spanning both floors.[5]

In the mid-1930s, the town council led by the mayor, Henri Duquenne, asked André Lurçat to design a modern town hall. Implementation of the project was delayed by the Second World War and lack of finance. After the war, the new mayor, Eugène le Moign, asked Lurçat to update his design. The new building was designed in the modern style, built in concrete and glass and was officially opened by a later mayor, Robert Fregossy, in 1967.[6][7][8]

The layout involved two separate blocks, connected at the centre by a narrower connecting block, with a distinctive fleche (spire) at the back of the rear block. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of ten bays facing east onto Place Gabriel Péri. The outer two bays at each end were projected forward on the ground floor and the first floor, while the next two bays on each side contained doorways with canopies. The four inner bays were fenestrated with casement windows on the ground floor. The first floor was fenestrated by a row of casement windows, while the second floor, which was slightly narrower than the lower floors, was fenestrated by a row of casement windows with a pair of square windows at either end. Internally, the principal rooms were the Salle du Conseil (council chamber), the Salle des Fêtes (ballroom) et the Salle de Réception (reception room).[9]

The entrance porch was decorated with mosaics by Marc Saint-Saëns,[10][11] and a tapestry by the architect's brother, Jean Lurçat, was also installed in the building.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Histoire du Blanc-Mesnil" (PDF). Town of Le Blanc-Mesnil. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  2. ^ Masson, l'Abbé (1887). "Bobigney (Lez-Paris) La Seigneurie, La Commune et la Paroisse" (PDF). Chez H. Champion. p. 10.
  3. ^ Viton de Saint-Allais, Nicolas (1841). Généalogie historique de la maison de Delley d'Agnens. Vol. 20. Nobiliaire universel de France. p. 21.
  4. ^ Bourgeade, Pierre; Smadja, Gilles; Vasseur, F. (1993). Blanc-Mesnil. FeniXX réédition numérique. p. 131. ISBN 978-2402455046.
  5. ^ Simonnot, Nathalie. ""Une maison de verre, transparente et claire" L'hôtel de ville du Blanc-Mesnil (1967)". Lieux de pouvoirs. Architectures administratives dans la France contemporaine, 1945–2013. Avant/Après la décentralisation. doi:10.4000/insitu.15728. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  6. ^ "L'oeuvre d'André Lurçat à Blanc-Mesnil". Le Blanc-Mesnil Tourisme. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  7. ^ Cohen, Jean-Louis (1995). André Lurçat 1894–1970: autocritique d'un moderne. Institut français d'architecture. p. 275. ISBN 978-2870095980. L'hôtel de ville du Blanc-Mesnil est le bâtiment le plus discuté des derniers réalisés par Lurçat, qui achève aussi en 1962 le Palais des sports de Saint-Denis
  8. ^ André Lurçat, architecte Trois études sur son œuvre, un text dA̓ndré Lurçat, inventaire des œuvres. Conservatoire national des arts et métiers. 1967. p. 19. André Lurçat édifia l'église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Maubeuge, le Palais des Sports de Saint-Denis et l'Hôtel de Ville du Blanc-Mesnil.
  9. ^ "Hôtel de Ville du Blanc-Mesnil". Department of Seine-Saint-Denis. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  10. ^ "Le Blanc Mesnil mosaïques de Marc Saint Saëns". YouTube. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Visite de l'hôtel de ville du Blanc Mesnil". Explore Paris. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Visitez l'hôtel de ville". The Parisien. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
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