It is a discreet church in a Parisian suburb and yet a global star of architecture. Completed in 1923, Notre-Dame-de-Consolation in Raincy (Seine-Saint-Denis), a dozen kilometers northeast of the capital, was an important milestone in the history of architecture. The first church in raw concrete, the work of the architect Auguste Perret (1874-1954), celebrates its centenary on June 17th and has a newly restored bell tower for the occasion. “It is a church whose modernity has neither been equaled nor surpassed in the decades since it was built. enthuses Isabelle Saint-Martin, head of studies at EPHE and specialist in 20th-century religious architecturee Century. With its hall church shape and bell tower reminiscent of American skyscrapers, it is still a manifesto today. »
This large building, where concrete is recognized as a material with its own architectural strength, is also called the “Sainte-Chapelle of reinforced concrete” because of its lattice walls entirely covered with stained glass. “Notre-Dame du Raincy very quicklybecome famous, but to this day it is unknown to the general public”, deplores Marie Monfort, curator of historical monuments of the Drac Île-de-France, who is responsible for the building. “Many architects come from all over the world, especially from Japan, to visit itcompletes Christophe Arnion, President of the Conservators Association, whose aim is to promote the building, which has been classified as a historic monument since 1966. I believe that every architect hears about it at least once during their studies. »
The birth of Auguste Perret’s project
Nothing indicated that the small town of Raincy would host this avant-garde architectural gesture in the 1920s. When the parish priest of Raincy, Félix Nègre, began the project of building a new church in 1918, his sole intention was to meet the spiritual needs of a population affected by the First World War and a growing residential community living in the city from scratch was newly created in the middle of the 19th centurye Century, after the subdivision of the former park of the Château du Raincy. First of all, the pastor imagines the construction of a neo-Gothic stone church without much originality, but the cost of which exceeds the financial means of the parish. Through his environment he then came into contact with Auguste Perret, a specialist in concrete structures that he built in the family business together with his brother Gustave, who was responsible for the technical part.
The architect already had an important career behind him, notably the prestigious construction of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1913) in Paris, but he had yet to design a religious building. Although he came from a non-spiritual family and was an atheist himself, he still wanted to challenge his science. Father Félix Nègre will offer him the opportunity. Within a few weeks, Gustave Perret designed a new project to be built in record time between May 1922 and June 1923.
A continuous web of stained glass
One can imagine the aesthetic shock that this church must have caused when it was inaugurated. Perret abandoned the plan in Kreuz, made maximum use of the reduced area of the site and proposed a church “of a thousand places” according to the wishes of the pastor, designed as a large rectangle, all in sobriety. Thanks to the concrete, he brought the structure down to 32 thin columns with a diameter of only 43 cm. The space is vacated and the no longer load-bearing walls are hollowed out and transformed into a continuous wall of stained glass that surrounds the building.
When the architect innovates radically, he is nonetheless part of a rereading of art history. “Gustave Perret admired the proportions and harmony of Greek architecture, underlines Wandrille Thieulin, monument architect, who has just carried out the last restoration campaign. It confirms the role of the support column, subtly fluted. He even gives the column a moral dimension, which he says “has the honor of supporting it”. The legacy of Gothic architecture is also subtly revisited. “It maintains three elements: the luminous atmosphere created by the large surfaces of stained glass, the unity around a single material and the affirmation of the constructive structure. »
In this project, modest means and creativity went hand in hand and formed a fruitful synergy. “Perret decides to exhibit raw concrete, both for personal conviction and for economic reasons”, recalls curator Marie Monfort. To reduce costs, the architect also models the patterns of the trellis, about five shapes (cross, rhombus, circle, half-square and quarter-square), which he reuses everywhere: for the communion rail, the balustrade of the organ, the The enclosure of the baptistery, the decoration of the bell tower… These concrete castings, mass-produced on site, allow for an economical construction. They also give the building a large unity.
Restoring concrete, a research project
Celebrated by the building like never before, this famous concrete has its weaknesses. “At that time we were in a test phase and the concrete used contained a lot of aggregates and little binding agent, which quickly and repeatedly led to weak points”, explains Marie Monfort. Far from being a magical material as was believed in its early days, concrete has revealed its own shortcomings over time. “With age it becomes infiltrative, describes the architect Wandrille Thieulin. The dirt-laden water attacks the irons, which rust, swell and push the concrete skin outwards, causing it to flake, crack or fracture. »
In recent years, therefore, parts of the bell tower of Notre-Dame du Raincy have come loose, falling onto the forecourt and exposing certain metal frames. These disturbances forced the Diocesan Association, owner of the building, after a year of work, to carry out a complete restoration of the bell tower that had just been completed. Clean and refreshed, the imposing edifice, which rises into the sky in beams on three floors, has regained all its strength.
The support of the Historical Monuments Research Laboratory (LRMH) was requested for this project. “The LRMH Concrete Center partnered with the Getty Museum’s Conservation Institute [situé à Los Angeles (États-Unis)], especially with the “patch repairs” that are used as concrete dressings on the structure., explains Marie Monfort. For concrete restoration specialists, Notre-Dame du Raincy is a special object. “Its seniority makes it possible to study the behavior of the Perret concrete but also of subsequent restorations over the long term.the curator continues. This allows us to expand our knowledge and make relevant recommendations for other buildings. »
It must be said that Notre-Dame du Raincy’s “little sisters” are numerous, since concrete became widespread in religious buildings in the 20th centurye Century. Perret’s opening gesture heralds the wave of modern churches created from 1931 by the Chantiers du Cardinal in Île-de-France. He also finds descendants elsewhere in France, for example in Sainte-Agnès de Maisons-Alfort (1933), Notre-Dame de la Trinité in Blois (1949) or Saint-Joseph in Le Havre (1957), also produced by Auguste Perret… “Notre-Dame du Raincy embodies a modesty and austerity that anticipates modernist aestheticsunderlines the historian Isabelle Saint-Martin. We can also see in its unified nave a way of giving shape to the assembly of the faithful, anticipating the liturgical reflections of Vatican II. »
An extraordinary stained glass program
A hundred years after its inauguration, the building continues to amaze and seduce, especially by the strength and brilliance of its stained glass windows, which were not completed in 1923 and were made over the following decade. The scenes from Marie’s life painted by the painter Maurice Denis (1870-1943), then at the height of his fame, were the subject of conversation and praise at the time. Now it’s more the abstract stained glass windows that catch the eye. They are the work of Marguerite Huré (1895-1967), a young painter and master glassmaker, a discreet but important figure in the interwar revival of sacred art. “Notre-Dame du Raincy is at a turning point, emphasizes Isabelle Saint-Martin. Through the work of Marguerite Huré we recognize the importance of abstract works and the idea that they can add to the beauty of a sanctuary and carry a strong spiritual dimension. »
From the entrance through the nave to the choir, the artist arranged the colored glass in gradations of intensity. Pale at first, they gradually increase in intensity, going from very light yellows and greens to pinks, oranges and reds. In contrast, the apse of the church shines in intense shades of blue, reminiscent of Marian blue and Chartres blue. Against this heavenly background, a beautiful red cross stands out, with its center alluding to the consecrated Host.
You have to get close to discover the secret of the beauty of these stained glass windows: the density of their colors, the great variety of their geometric patterns reminiscent of African wax fabrics, the ingenuity of their arrangement, the border of transparent dots that gives them an intense charisma… “Marguerite Huré has worked for ten years with extraordinary patience to create those thousands and thousands of stained glass windows that no one has had the courage to count,” smiles Christophe Arnion. For this retired parishioner who grew up in Raincy and shows the church as his mother did in the past, Notre-Dame-de-Consolation is an enduring joy. “It is an exceptional opportunity to live near such a masterpiece,” he slips with veiled emotion. Through the years and seasons he never tired of thinking about it, and at all other times preferred summer evenings, “When darkness has already entered the church and the light of the setting sun throws the colors of the stained glass onto the dark floor.”
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Visit Our Lady of Raincy
The company is located at 83 avenue de la Résistance in Raincy (Seine-Saint-Denis). The Notre-Dame-de-Consolation church is open every day from 8am to 7pm.
On the 100th anniversary of his consecration, celebrated on June 17, Several cultural visits are organized by volunteers from the Association of Restaurateurs (1) on Sundays at 4pm (duration 1 hour 30 minutes).
Saturday, June 17 at 8:30 p.m.: Concert of the “Music of the Air”.
From June 17th The Parish of Raincy, the Association of Conservators and the Historical Society of Raincy and the Pays d’Aulnoye are organizing an exhibition of historical photographs and archives (2).
