L’influence d’Auguste PERRET sur la formalisation des premières expressions modernistes Algéroises

Abstract

During the first half of the 20th century, Algiers used to be considered as a laboratory of modern architecture. Today, as we travel through the capital, we immediately capture this modernist, Mediterranean hue, giving the city its distinctive character. Many buildings, with various typologies, signed by great names of local modern architects, mark and shape the urban landscape of the capital. Besides, many well identified figures of modernism made from Algiers their centre of interest, which had a strong impact on the upcoming generation of Algerian modern architects. Our research is therefore interested in the role played by Auguste Perret, known as the father of modernism and the initiator of structural classicism, in the formalization of the first modern architectural expressions in Algiers. In order to answer our questions, we have structured this master’s thesis in a theoretical research allowing us to understand the context of modernism in Algiers and the Perretist doctrine. And in a work of confrontation and comparison between metropolitan buildings whose credits is given to Auguste Perret himself, with some Algiers’ modern buildings in which he participated. At the end of this research, we will be able to identify and interpret Auguste Perret's influence on the expression of the first modernist buildings of the capital, the possible presence of territorial originality and the way in which he could have influenced the younger generation of Algiers’ modern architects. This work is part of a global dynamic of emerging interest towards the attention of local architectural heritage. It will aim to better document the theme of Algiers’ modernism and to understand its contours and specificities in order to valorise and recognize the values of this heritage.