Among French responses to the post-war housing crisis were the notorious grands ensembles: social housing developments of towers and bars which were soon condemned as factory-produced rabbit hutches. As of the early 1960s, alternative forms of social housing were sought. One of the most extraordinary developments realized in this period was the rebuilding of the centre of Ivry-sur-Seine, where architects Jean Renaudie and Renée Gailhoustet introduced highly original typologies that still astonish today.

By Andrew Ayers.
Photos: Vincent Fillon for L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui.

AA 407 – June 2015 – Retour sur section