Part IV : Le Havre and Auguste Perret
It would be impossible to write about Le Havre without mentioning Auguste Perret (1874-1954). He was an architect who was one of the world’s first specialists in reinforced concrete constructions. After Le Havre was destroyed during the Second World War, Perret and his team worked on its redesign and reconstruction between 1945 and 1964. In 2005 the city was put on UNESCO’s World Heritage List for its exceptional integration of post-war urban planning, architecture and technology.
Saint Joseph’s Church (Église Saint-Joseph) is considered one of France’s greatest architectural works from the post-war era. I was asked to photograph it. Not knowing how tall it is in real life, when I saw it I realised that I didn’t need to worry about finding it. You can see it from almost every part of the city!
It is an interesting building, unlike any other church I’ve seen. Unfortunately due to parking issues and time constraints I didn’t get to see the interior, but I would have liked to.
