| Popis: |
This article considers the relationships between architecture and places of power as they were redefined in Marseille, as a result of decentralisation policies between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. This decade saw the construction of a new ‘hôtel de région’ built in two campaigns (1984-1986, architects Jean-Michel Battesti, 1987-1991, architect Claude Parent, Christian Biaggi, Bruno Maurin) and a departmental hotel (1990-1994, architect William Alsop, John Lyall). These two buildings, of very different architectural design, embody the reinforcement of the power of local authorities resulting from the decentralisation laws of 1982 (regional council and departmental council in this case). The environments of these new buildings were largely modified by these buildings: requalification of the district of Butte-aux-Carmes for the first and of Saint-Just for the second. They also share the characteristic of having been programmed and designed under the Public Ownership Act (Loi MOP, 1985) which, through the generalisation of public competitions, was intended to promote the access to public works for new architects, the architectural inventiveness and, ultimately, the quality of buildings. This particular context invites us to question the place of these buildings in the city. It leads in particular to the question of the symbolic dimension of their architecture, while the concept of ‘public equipment’, which had prevailed during the Thirty glorious years, tends to disappear in favour of ‘public architecture’, a semantic shift which reveals how the local authorities used architecture to assert their influence and to define their image. |
