L’architecture du XXe siècle dans le Var

Of course there is Le Corbusier at the Pradet, and Mallet-Stevens with his villa Noailles in Hyères. But there is also the hôtel Latitude 43, designed by Pingusson in Saint-Tropez. This book, dedicated to the remarkable architectural creations of the XXth century in the department of the Var in South-Eastern France, did not omit any of the great classics. It describes their genesis and their wait (long sometimes) before being included in the national heritage group: Port-Grimaud for example, which was started on an artisanal level by François Spoerry, was snubbed at for a long time in spite of its quick public success. But the main interest of this book is probably to have the public rediscover ensembles that have somehow been forgotten, such as the villa of Octave van Rysselberghe in the Lavandou or that of René Darde in Sainte-Maxime. Not to mention the unbelievable projects such as the mosque of Missiri, in Fréjus, commissioned to the Senegalese soldiers to keep them busy, or the aerial well of Achille Knapen in Trans-en-Provence, which never reached its objective, to produce water from the condensation of air…

•L’architecture du XXe siècle dans le Var, directed by Jean-Lucien Bonillo, Imbernon publishing house, 2010, 212 p., 30 €