After WW2 France was faced with a severe housing shortage. During the wars construction had been on a low level. After WW2 a baby boom set in and people left their villages for the big cities, specifically Paris. Last but not least, the end of colonialism meant a huge influx of French citizens from the colonies back to France, most notably Algeria.

To deal with this the French constructed huge banlieus (suburbs) on the outskirts of town. These were build in a modernist style all over France. The citizens were mostly poor; new arrivals from the former colonies or poor French from the country side. The buildings are referred to as HLM (Habituation à Logement Moderé). While HLM literally only means rent controlled, in France it normally infers the image of a large concrete apartment block in a rough neighborhood.

Le Havre is similar to these HLMs and banlieus. The city was destroyed during WW2 and then rebuilt from scratch in modernist style afterwards. The leading architect was Auguste Perret, but you also find a building (the Volcano) from Oscar Niemeyer.

As is often the case, modernist architecture done right works: Le Havre is a pleasant visit. It makes you wonder what went wrong in the other banlieus of France. Personally, I think it's a mix of spending too little money on the architecture when creating the copies. And the population. Le Havre was a complete city for poor and rich inhabitants. The HLMs and banlieus meanwhile were targeted only at the poor.

Getting There

There are trains via Rouen to Paris. The station in Paris is St Lazaire. I came from Caen by bus (busverts.fr). It's a short ride, but the schedules (as usual) are fairly terrible, especially on the weekend.

Getting In

If you want to visit the Appartement Perret, you need to reserve in advance. I don't fully understand why access needs to be restricted in the first place. It was out of season, the city wasn't bustling with tourists either, and frankly I am not sure they have "season" at all. But well, they make you. And all I could to express my frustration was to not provide my country information and leave.

While You Are There

The former fishing town and port Honfleur on the other site of the Seine has been depicted by countless impressionist paintings. The resort towns at Trouville and Deauxville were where rich Parisians would go for a beach weekend in the 19th century. To this day, they have kept a 19th century charn unlike their peers in the UK.

Near Caen, you will find the Normandy Landing sites. I had looked into visiting them, too, but could not make it work due to the limited public transport options. I also have to admit, that I am not convinced this should be inscribed in the first place. You also find the tapestry of Bayeux.