Marseille, post-war years - the combination of these words is associated with the "Residential Unit", the programmatic work of Le Corbusier. However, the restoration of the Old Port, which was one of the largest projects of the late 1940s and early 1950s in France, took place without the involvement of the Swiss modernist, despite his willingness and active efforts.
It cannot be said that Marseille suffered greatly during World War II - unlike Le Havre, Warsaw, Stalingrad, Coventry, Rotterdam or Berlin, there were no destructive bombings or serious street fighting here. However, the city suffered a very deep trauma: at the very beginning of 1943, on the personal order of Hitler, a significant part of the Old Port was destroyed, which for many centuries was and still remains the actual and symbolic center of Marseille.
The history of the most ancient city in France is 2600 years old, it is almost the same age as Rome. Marseille knew ups and downs, was subjected to repeated destruction (often to the ground), but never ceased to exist, restoring itself anew. There are no ancient theaters, Gothic cathedrals or Baroque palaces preserved here, but there is an acutely tangible, unique spirit that cannot be eroded by any mistral.
The main bearer of the historical memory of Marseille has always been its Old Port in Lacidon Bay, discovered by Greek sailors from Asia Minor Phocaea in the distant VI century BC. On a mountain overlooking the harbor (on the site of the present Panye region), the Greeks founded their colony, which they called Massalia, and by the time of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the city was a major trade, cultural and scientific center, sending expeditions to the shores of Greenland, Senegal and the Baltic. Over time, the development covered the bay from all sides of the land, and today the Old Port is the geographical, compositional and symbolic center of the millionth city, where all the main roads converge.
Before the war, the foothills of the Old Town were an integral, very picturesque ensemble of medieval buildings, in which were interspersed with separate "pearls" - Renaissance and Baroque houses and the city hall, built under Louis XIV. A spectacular addition was an openwork bridge with a suspended gondola of characteristic "Eiffelian" architecture, thrown over the "mouth" of the bay.
However, in the middle of the twentieth century, the value of the Old City was not realized by everyone. The state perceived its development as a slum, which should have been demolished according to the method of Baron Haussmann, creating a representative "imperial" facade similar to the embankments in Bordeaux. Based on these ideas, in 1942 the architect Eugène Beaudouin (who later built the Montparnasse Tower in Paris) drew up a plan for the reconstruction of the center of Marseille, which involved punching avenues through the historical fabric and was adopted by the Vichy government. Thus, the eviction of 25 thousand indigenous people and the demolition of 15 hectares of buildings in the Old City, carried out by the occupiers and collaborators on the orders of the Fuhrer, in general, corresponded to the previously approved plans. Only buildings of undeniable value were spared - the city hall of the 17th century and several other houses.
The liberation of France and the coming to power of left-wing forces, naturally, forced a serious reconsideration of approaches to reconstruction. At the forefront was the task of housing construction, and as cheaply and quickly as possible. There was no talk of an exact or imitation restoration of the previous buildings (as, for example, in Saint-Malo) - the Old Port had to get a uniquely new look.
However, the political instability of the post-war years led to a leapfrog of the designers and prevented the development of a single project from the very beginning. In 1946, Roger-Henri Expert, one of the most prominent masters of Art Deco, was appointed the chief architect of the reconstruction of the Old Port. Among his works one can mention the pavilions of the Colonial Exhibition of 1931, the World Exhibition in New York, as well as his participation in the design of the interiors of the legendary ocean liner "Normandy". In Marseille, Expert proposed to build up the territory with 14-storey U-shaped towers connected by sectional buildings of a lower number of storeys. The concept was rejected by the new mayor, who considered it too radical, cracking the historic skyline of the Old City. The expert had to be replaced by his partner Gaston Castel, although two of the towers had to be completed, albeit with a lower number of storeys.
At the same time, in the fall of 1947, when the construction of the "Marseilles block" began, Le Corbusier tried to offer his services. However, he did not find success, so the matter was limited to a couple of pencil sketches. Judging by the sketches, Corbusier proposed for Marseilles about the same as for Saint-Dieu - a free composition of a few large volumes, including a skyscraper in the Exchange area. At that time, the tenets of the Athenian Charter were shared by very few in France, and in order to push through a decision based on them, it was necessary to have sufficient weight in the professional workshop, which the Swiss architect did not have at that time.
The team leader, which also included Fernand Pouillon, André Leconte and André Devin, invited Auguste Perret, who in those years was perhaps the most respected architect in France. But Perret was completely absorbed in the reconstruction of Le Havre, which suffered much more seriously than Marseilles, and therefore limited himself to only defining the basic principles. This was taken advantage of by the youngest member of the team - energetic Pouillon, who, pushing Castel, took the reins into his own hands.
Combining a designer and a contractor (and, in the future, a novelist), he managed to construct several buildings in and around Marseilles. Pouillon considered himself a student of Perret, who undoubtedly influenced his creative style, and after the death of the master, he headed the famous workshop on the Rue Reynouard in Paris. It was he who became the protagonist of the restoration of the Old Port, having implemented several projects at once: a quarantine station near the Cathedral of La Major (together with André Champollion and René Egger), La Tourette residential complex (in collaboration with Egger), which has become one of the dominant features of the historic center, and, of course, the development of the embankment. The implementation of these objects turned the young provincial into one of the most influential architects of France during the Glorious Thirty Years.
The reconstruction of the Old Port, carried out by 1956, was based on much more conservative - in comparison with the Athenian Charter - principles that Perret and his associates professed. The pre-war street grid has not been fully restored - rather, we can talk about its creative rethinking. The planning module was significantly (approximately 3-4 times) enlarged - in place of fractional medieval buildings there were residential sectional and single-entrance houses. The system of communications was also revised: the longitudinal streets running parallel to the embankment were supplemented with more rare (compared to the pre-war situation) transverse transport and pedestrian "gaps", as well as small partially or completely open public spaces - hybrids of courtyards and squares. Thus, new buildings form semi-perimeter quarters in which the differentiation of street and courtyard spaces is blurred. The premises on the first floors, oriented to the main streets, are given over to public functions - mainly trade and cafes. This layout allows modern researchers to talk about the so-called. “Other”, “alternative”, modernism (“autre modernité”), which is fundamentally different from the ideas of Le Corbusier. Perret's participation is clearly visible in the development of the embankment, made up of the same type of sectional houses with arcades in the basement and a loggia along the entire length of the attic. The only deviation from the principles of the aged master allowed by Pouillon is the facing of the facades with stone instead of bare concrete, of which Perret was the "singer".
Despite the large number of participants (it is also pertinent to mention André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Jean Crozet, Jean Rozan and Eugène Chirié, who built separate buildings), the architects managed to create a holistic ensemble, forming the well-known image of Marseille and its Old Port.
