Throughout the 20th century, Grenoble underwent important urban developments, spurred by the will of several successive mayors and by two major events : The International Exhibition of Tourism and Hydroelectric Power in 1925 and the Winter Games of the 20th Olympiade in 1968.
Cradle of the French cement industry, Grenoble was proud to give itself several edifices built of reinforced concrete, setting precedents in the field with structures such as the Perret Tower or the helicoidal parking garage.
As part of the organization of the Olympic Games, the city invested in remarkable structures: The Europole district, dominated by the new judicial center, and especially the Vigny-Musset and de Bonne neighbourhoods bear witness to resolutely contemporary architecture with awareness of sustainable development.

Perret Tower

the Perret Tower, Grenoble

Built for the International Hydroelectric Power and Tourism Exhibition held at the Paul Mistral Park in 1925, the Perret Tower is the only remaining structure from this event and has become one of the emblematic structures of the city of Grenoble.

86 meters high (95 meters if measured to the extreme tip), it was the highest reinforced concrete construction in Europe.

 

the Perret Tower, Grenoble

Built by architect, engineer, and entrepreneur Auguste Perret, it was meant to serve as an observation tower for the International Exhibition of 1925.

A high speed elevator (1.15 m/second) took the public up to a circular terrace with an orientation deck. It could hold up to 100 people and was 60 meters above ground.

A spiral staircase also allowed visitors to climb up to the terrace. Eight pillars bore the weight of the structure and give the tower an audacious perspective.

A system of encircling bands spans the tower's height, circling the tower at regular intervals.

 The Perret Tower has suffered the damages of time and has not been accessible since the 1960s. It is in need of major restoration work.

It is lit up at night, which very successfully highlights the architecture of the structure.
The structure was registered in 1975 and classified in 1998.

 

Old Eiffel industrial hall (Le Magasin)

Old Eiffel industrial hall (Le Magasin)

Created in 1986, the Magasin, National Contemporary Art Center of Grenoble, is housed in a former industrial building. It is one of the first art centers in France to make use of what was once an industrial wasteland.

Bouchayer and Viallet, two Grenoble industrial leaders who worked in hydroelectricity bought the vast hall in 1900. It was built by the Eiffel construction shops for the World's Fair of Paris in that same year and was designed to house the the machines hall.

The building was disassembled in Paris, transported to Grenoble, and reassembled in its current location.

The Bouchayer-Viallet company produced pressure pipelines for hydroelectric installations in dams. The building later served as a warehouse and was completely abandoned when the Magasin wanted to move in.

Old Eiffel industrial hall (Le Magasin)

The building's conversion was carried out by architect Patrick Bouchain. He changed little of the original structure, preferring to preserve the the large windows and the riveted metallic structure, typical of Eiffel creations. Most of the building is used for art exhibitions.

The artistic program is determined with a will to preserve the architectural integrity of the place. The large surface area (900 m2 of surface, 70 meters in length and 20 meters in height) and the large windows that characterize the Rue du Magasin (so named because of its massive dimensions and its constant temperature), allows for monumental in-house presentations.

Old Eiffel industrial hall (Le Magasin)

The works of Daniel Buren, Richard Long, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Guillaume Bijl, Matt Mullican, and others marked the first years of the center's existence. Another exhibition area (860 m2) which is autonomous and completely modular from one exhibit to the next has been installed on the side.

In 2005, all of the glasswork (1600m2) was restored by the City of Grenoble, owner of the building.

 

Abbaye Housing Project

Abbaye Housing Project

Construction on the Abbaye housing projects began in 1927 just south of Paul Mistral park and is an interesting example of the City of Grenoble's efforts to solve the housing crisis from the years between the two world wars.

The neighborhood is made of an ensemble of small stone and concrete apartment buildings, typical of the 1920s. The crest of the city is displayed above each apartment building entrance.
The Abbaye Suburban Housing Project is labeled « 20th century heritage »

 

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The three towers of Grenoble, île verte

The three towers of Grenoble, île verte

Built from 1963 to 1965 in the Ile Verte neighbourhood, just east of the city, the three towers of Grenoble, 98 meters high with 28 floors, were the highest liveable structures in Europe at the time of their construction.

The blueprints imposed high rise buildings in order to preserve as many as possible of the neighborhood's beautiful trees.

The architects Roger Anger, Pierre Puccinelli and François Loyet designed each tower in the shape of a diamond with four apartments per floor, laid out around a central core containing the elevator shaft.

The three towers of Grenoble, île verte

The apartment rooms, staggered in relation to each other, create the diamond-shaped layout and that of the facades, where the balconies seem dynamically articulated.

This layout minimizes the massive appearance of the buildings and gives the ensemble a particular sculpture-like appearance.

The towers are built on a prestressed concrete slab on which jacks absorb any exterior energy (notably in case of an earthquake).

Three high speed elevators (2 meters/second), each with a 10-person capacity, service a set group of floors.

The towers are named Tour Mont Blanc, Tour Belledonne and Tour Vercors. A large mosaic decorates the entrance of each tower.
The Mont Blanc tower is labelled "20^th century heritage".

 

Grenoble City Hall

Grenoble City Hall

Built by Maurice Novarina, Head of Civil Construction and the National Palaces, the city hall was part of the constructions carried out for the 20th Winter Olympic Games of Grenoble in 1968. It was designed by architects Giovannoni, Christin and Welti and was inaugurated on ec. 18, 1967.

A twelve-story tower houses the city's technical services and a lower building which encloses a patio, houses the mayor's and elected officials' offices, public rooms, and multi-purpose rooms split between the raised ground floor and the second floor.

 

Grenoble City Hall

The lower building, founded on drilled concrete posts with reinforced concrete girders, is built of twin pillars and caisson timbers of 14 meters, allowing for vast open spaces between the load-supporting points.

Some of the pillars were built outside the curtain-wall, thus encircling the building with an ample concrete colonnade topped with a cornice of the same material. The curtain-wall was designed by the architect Jean Prouvé.

The tower is supported by the lower building by a caisson timber, similar to a 23 meter span, resting on two piles that are deeply anchored in the ground and that house the elevator shafts, the stairwells, and the technical lockers.

This audacious layout makes it possible to open up the entire public hall with the ceilings two stories over head and a raised floor.

The tower is surrounded by a curtain-wall whose insulated windows and enamel-coated spandrel glass are assembled on spun aluminum strainers, specially designed for the project. They also act as a sun shade.

Grenoble City Hall

The city hall houses a large number of works of art, commissioned with reputable artists. The patio, whose floor is covered with a marble-tile mosaic created by Charles Gianferrari, is decorated with a granite fountain crowned with a bronze statue, created by the Romanian-born sculptor Etieen Hajdu.

A Carraras marble sculpture by Emile Gilioli is located in the honor hall.

The marriage hall is decorated with a tapestry designed by Alfred Manessier and woven by Plasse-Lecaisne. A tapestry by Raoul Ubac, woven in the Gobelins work shop hangs opposite an embossed tin panel by Sabatier in the reception salon. The tapestry was a gift from the Artistic creation department of the Minister of Cultural Affairs.

The building is labeled "20^th century heritage."

 

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Sports Stadium, Paul Mistral Park

Sports Stadium, Paul Mistral Park

The Sports Stadium was built by engineer Nicolas Esquillan and architects Robert Demartini and Pierre Junillion to host the figure skating and ice hockey competitions, medal ceremonies, and closing ceremony during the 1968 winter Olympics.

In fact, it was called the Ice Stadium at the time.

The structure, quite audacious in shape, was designed to open up the interior space.

 

 

Sports Stadium, Paul Mistral Park

It's structure is made of pre-stressed reinforced concrete, and features two cylindrical vaults that overlap at a right angle, rising 65 and 95 meters in height.

The vaults support themselves and are completely independent from the facades. They cover a surface of 12,000 m2 and are supported at four different points.

During the day, light flows in through the large arched openings on the side of the building. This makes the inside feel lighter, clearer, and more open.

After the Olympic Games, the Sports Stadium was equipped with a permanent indoor bicycle rink.

With a 12,000 spectator capacity, the stadium hosts all types of events today, including the Six Days of Grenoble and the International Circus Festival.

Structure labeled "20^th century heritage."

 

Helicoidal Garage

Helicoidal Garage

Behind the typical art deco façade of an apartment building hides one of the city's most surprising structures.

With little room available, architects Fumet and Noiray constructed a helicoidal, reinforced concrete parking garage in 1928-1929 in an impressive spiral shape

Helicoidal Garage

This audacious construction is made up of a 65 meter ramp whose weight rests on reinforced concrete posts.

It has 116 individual garages on seven levels.

Because of its streamlined architecture and modern technical characteristics, the helicoidal garage was a very innovative creation for its time.

The structure was registered in 1989.

 

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House of Culture

MC:2 House of Culture

Designed by architect André Wogenscky and inaugurated Feb. 3, 1968 by Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux, the House of Culture of Grenoble was built on the occasion of the 1968 winter Olympics.

It was the first of its kind in France, capable of hosting all sorts of cultural events in one place.

At the beginning of the 21^st century, the building underwent a complete renovation, as well as an expansion, carried out under the direction of architect Antoine Stinco.

The new House of Culture, renamed the MC2 was inaugurated on Sept. 17, 2004 and offers 26,000 m2 of surface area.

The old parts of the building with its famous « ship bow » façade designed by Wogenscky, houses the auditorium, the grand theater, and the small theater.

Before it stretches an immense public square. Its rounded façade is made of a white part covered in enameled coated sheet metal and of an upper structure covered in black cast iron plaques.

MC:2 House of Culture

The new building, linked to the older one by a glass passageway, is the creation of Antoine Stnico.

It houses two dance studios and a creation room.

The architect paid particular attention to the the lighting and was careful to include bay windows, skylights, and glass roofs.

 

Legal district

Legal district

Magisterial work of architect Claude Vasconi, the courthouse was inaugurated in Sept. 2002.

It is the only courthouse in France that houses all of the existing courts of law.

Claude Vasconi had to choose a triangular-shaped building adapted to the available land which measured 7000 m2.

The courthouse is this built in the shape of a perfect isosceles triangle, a shape highly symbolic of justice.

The building is divided into two parts: the upper part, made of 8 floors, houses offices and looks over the rue Pierre Sémard. The lower part groups together the court rooms and is covered with a large protective coating in bleu-gray aluminum, also highly symbolic of justice.

The location of the land, between the Drac and the Isere rivers plus the presence of a water table less than fifty meters below the surface, made it necessary to install 1000 posts in the ground before laying the foundation.

The ensemble rests on a mineral base, which reaches all the way to vestibule on the ground floor. This protective base, covered in granite, surrounds the building and ensures the structure's durability.

 

Legal district

The entrance hall includes the vestibule whose fan shape leads to the ensemble of the penal court rooms.

Above the vestibule, the glass roof ensures generous distribution of the daylight throughout the building.

Above-ground passageways allow the judges to go directly from their offices to the court rooms, without going through the crowds outside the courtrooms.

The administrative building's framework is made of metal beams.

 

Legal district

The ensemble stands on a reinforced concrete base that houses two underground floors used as an archive room and for parking.

The southwest façade on the rue Pierre Sémard features double insulation that does three jobs: sound insulation, temperature insulation (winter and summer), and management of how much natural light enters the building.

The outermost façade, made of simple clear glass, is separated from the inner façade and its double window panes by 60 cm of space.

 

Legal district

The different departments of the law courts are spread over the nine floors of the administrative building.
At its core, beginning on the third floor, an atrium with a verdant garden receives the natural sunlight that filters in.

The building that houses the court rooms, however, is made of concrete.
The walls of the court rooms themselves, on the ground floor, are covered in wood paneling, reminding attendees of the solemnity of the place.

On the first floor, the civil court rooms feature perforated metal netting covering sound-proofing insulation.

The court rooms, built according to a nesting floor plan, all benefit from natural lighting thanks to a light well.

 

Alpexpo

Alpexpo

Completed in 1969, the buildings of the Grenoble exhibition center were designed by architects Jean and Claude Prouvé, with the help of Serge Binotto and engineers Léon Pétroff and Luis Fruitet.

Their goal was to cover as much surface as possible with as few pressure points as possible, all the while allowing for possible future expansion.

The exhibition hall covers 30,000 m2.

The metallic framework rests on a system of 36 x 36 meter links divided into 3 modules.

Each link corresponds to 4 poles and 4 beams.

They support the 1.5 meter high metal frame.

Above, the plateau is made of a tridimensional structure derived from the Pétroff system. It is the same principal as a table.
The flat deckle is directly fixed to the frame.

Alpexpo

The curtain-wall facades can be moved depending on how the place is going to be used, thanks to 2 interchangeable elements in their composition.

Its angles are rounded out thanks to a system of panels.
This system means that the link motive can be infinitely repeated, allowing for future expansions.
Labeled "20^th century heritage."

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