Hôtel de Ville — Reconstruction as an Entire Urban System
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
Listen
Transcript
Le Havre’s town hall and vast square show that Perret’s project was urban planning, not a collection of isolated buildings. A structural grid and standardized concrete elements allowed rapid rebuilding while preserving variation in façades and apartments.
The tower makes municipal government visible across the reconstructed centre, while the open square creates space absent from the dense prewar city. Critics once dismissed this architecture as monotonous; UNESCO later recognized the centre as an exceptional postwar ensemble.
That reversal in taste is useful. Heritage status does not only protect ancient stone. Societies eventually decide that difficult recent history also deserves preservation.