Contemporary architecture

Contrary to what some might believe, Versailles is not just a Seventeenth and Eighteenth century city.

For starters, you can see many millstone houses built around 1900 in the Clancy, Glatigny, Montreuil and Porchefontaine districts. But what is even more noteworthy is that several avant-garde architects have made statements with their buildings. Thus, in 1920, the great Auguste Perret built the "Villa Cassandre" at 11 rue Albert Joly, and André Lurçat built the fascinating "Villa Bomsel" at 12 rue René Aubert in the same district.

While those two architects didn't hesitate to leave exposed concrete, Albert Rimbert, who created the Cyrano Cinema (rue Rameau) in 1924, preferred hiding that material under brick and a decor glorifying Edmond Rostand's hero. The Versailles Chantiers train station was rebuilt in that period by the architect André Ventre, and inaugurated in 1932: it was at the time the most modern and the most "luxurious" train station in France, "tossed on the rails like Chenonceaux on the Cher" to some, inspired by the Grand Trianon to others…

Just as classical in appearance, the Palais des Congrès de Versailles, erected in 1964 by Pierre-Edouard Lambert, is constrained by its nearness to the palace. It was nevertheless the first convention hall built in France, and noted for its functionality and its 1200 seat amphitheater. More avant-garde is the "villa Drusch" erected in the 1960's by the architect Claude Parent, now a member of the Institut. The principles of his theory of oblique architecture were applied there (38, av. Douglas Haig). Most recently, the newly constructed Ecole des Beaux Arts, rue Saint-Simon serves as evidence of the presence of contemporary architecture in the heart of the city.