Architecture is everywhere, all the time. Considered by some as an artistic discipline, it has the particularity of imposing itself in the streets of our cities without anyone being able to decide. To qualify the new building in the district, everyone can therefore go there with their often very well-argued comments. ” It’s ugly “. But for whom? And why ? It was to try to talk about their profession that architects from Rennes and the House of Architecture and Spaces in Brittany (MaeB) founded the Georges festival, whose the first edition starts this Saturday, September 24. Its director Virginie February hopes to “take a step aside to talk about architecture in an offbeat way”. At the dawn of the festival which continues until October 9, we therefore interviewed one of the founders of Georges to find out about the architectural identity of Rennes. Is it remarkable? Noticed? Difficult to decide. But Rennes has its strengths.
In the urban landscape of Rennes, which buildings stand out to you? If you asked the locals this question, you would probably get a wide range of answers. No, Rennes does not have an Eiffel Tower. The parliament of Brittany would come in a good position. Horizons too. The station too. And maybe even downtown jails. “Rennes is a rather wise city, a little technocratic. In its recent history, it has hosted many tertiary, administrative. It does not have the industrial heritage that Bordeaux, Nantes or the port cities may have”, considers Valentin Engasser.
The paw of Louis Arretche
To explain this relative sobriety, the Rennes architect also recalls that the Breton capital is a very university city, citing as an example the Beaulieu campus designed by Louis Arretche. However, it is hard to imagine tourists crowding around the buildings of Rennes 1 University to admire their outlines.
Rennes is however thus made. It mixes the colors of medieval half-timbered buildings with the whiteness of buildings from the 1970s such as L’Eperon or Les Horizons by Georges Maillols. Acclaimed fifty years ago for its modernity, Louis Arretche’s inspiration for town planning on slabs is today impossible to renovate. “A work of art if you want to see it, you go to the museum. You can even store it. Architecture, everyone undergoes it”. And for a long time. The question is to know which buildings of today will mark the generations of tomorrow. Impossible to say in a city that is being built everywhere. See you in fifty years.