It is in 1953 that Max Brunet, mayor of Royan, requested the architect Guillaume  Gillet (1912-1987) to rebuild a church as the  former 1874 Neo-Gothic edifice had been devastated along with 80 per cent of the city under the Allies bombs in 1945.  ”Build me a church that is the highest possible, I want Royan to be no longer a laying town but a standing one; set it upright again with the silhouette of the church” Brunet said.

Royan church from the South. All photos by author. Copyright: Francois Hagnere

Gillet and his collaborators Marc Hébrard, Bernard Lafaille and René Sarger create a church whose architecture is not only innovative but audacious. In 1947, the magazine “L’Architecture” was devoted to contemporary Brazil. This certainly had a great influence on the architects of the new Royan.  The famous seaside resort has been the hub of experimentation and consideration that conduced to an uncommon and modern scenery. The face of the town is characteristic of an approach of Architecture called “Tropicalization” due to the peculiar attention paid to the treatment of the relation between the inside and the outside of buildings. The architect Ferret, a former student of Le Corbusier, opens the town to the “air-light-sun” concept, keywords of the Athens Charter. The reflection is also based on “architecture de-materialization” according to the Modern Movement theories and Le Corbusier’s “five points”.

The apse of Royan church.

The 1950 trinitarian triumphal arch facing the beach is intentional in this respect and a figure of Tradition. The concrete church of Royan was inspired by the great Gothic cathedrals and the inside is so eerie that it is not without a certain emotion that one enters this huge building that imposes admiration and respect. The proportions are perfect and so much accurate. For, as André Malraux used to say: “By entering this concrete cathedral, keep quiet, here everything is dash, rigor, ruggedness and severe beauty”. The nave (35 m high) is an ellipse (45 m long and 22 m wide), mandorla-shaped and can accommodate 2000 persons. It is flanked by an ambulatory, a gallery and a triforium. The construction, from a module: the triangle, symbolizing the Trinity, forms the principle of organization by creating a scenic atmosphere of volumes and effects between shade and light.  

The choir traditionally looking East.

The 24 V-shaped pillars measure 10 to 12 cm thick. The organ has 3600 pipes. The roof in “horse saddle”, a technique used for the first time in 1951, is only 8 cm thick, it is a mere feat of valor. The parabolic vaults reach 36 m and 28 m in the center. The spire is 56 m high. The stained glass windows are geometrical and abstract and a few on the North aisle are figurative. Henri-Martin Granel created the high vertical windows of the Stations of the Cross. The majestic central window in the choir is in Baccarat crystal. It is a free interpretation of Saint-John’s Apocalypse by Claude Idoux. The glass surface in the whole church is almost 500 square meters.  The church of Royan unquestionably is the greatest religious edifice of the XXth century. It was blessed in 1958 and listed only in 1988.

The majestic nave at Royan church.

 The sumptuous window of the choir in Baccarat crystal by Claude Idoux.

To the West, the grand organ.

The use of V-shaped pillars designed by Bernard Lafaille give an outside façade decorated with resets creating colossal grooves between which the windows appear as dark strips. This aesthetic effect is associated with the rough concrete and irregularity of the building shape: ellipse and roof inclined on 2 sides, thus producing a masterpiece of very innovative lyrical brutalism.   

 The nave and spire from the South.

On the North side, looking towards West.

The nave towards East.

The spire.

The “ader”, Association de Défense de l’Eglise de Royan, with their dynamic President Madame Marie-Pierre Quentin, acts  in favor of the safeguard of this contemporary jewel of architecture, a precious witness of the fifties. Donors are more than welcome to restore and help maintaining the church. All details can be found on their site: http://www.notre-dame-royan.com

Guillaume Gillet, architect of the “Trente Glorieuses” was “Premier Grand Prix de Rome” in 1946. President of the “Académie d’Architecture” from 1970 to 1973, he also built 10 prisons in the ’60s. He traditionally was buried inside the church in the North aisle. He who spent 5 years in the Nazi camps was very inspired. Did the silhouette of the ruins of Châalis Abbey, where he was born, impressed him that much that he devoted himself to religious architecture to offer us such a pure and fair vision of the Divine?

Holy-water basin, Church of Notre-Dame, Royan.

Please check out my related article: http://quazen.com/arts/architecture/the-secret-of-le-corbusier/