Title: The Story of How Le Havre Was Rebuilt After WWII
Headings: The Story of How Le Havre Was Rebuilt After WWII
The Story of How Le Havre Was Rebuilt After WWII
Le Havre first faced hardships during World War I
Hitler’s Festung made the city a massive target
Auguste Perret gave the post-war city a complete overhaul
Concrete allowed the project to move along faster
Le Havre’s unique architecture is recognised by UNESCO

Content: An aerial view of Le Havre as it looks today | © Olivier2000 / WIkiCommons
Auguste Perret gave the post-war city a complete overhaul
With approximately 12,500 buildings eradicated and roughly 80,000 left homeless, tending to the destruction became a national priority for France. Auguste Perret was enlisted as the lead architect and the city was to be built anew in a massive project that began in 1945 and finished in 1964. Perret, a Belgian-born architectural pioneer and teacher of the Swiss architect Le Corbusier, aimed to maintain the town’s original pattern and build upon it using new planning ideas, advancements in construction technology and structural classicism. Not your typical French church - St. Joseph's in Le Havre | © ddzphoto / Pixabay
Concrete allowed the project to move along faster
Perret’s material of choice was reinforced concrete, which would get the job done quickly, efficiently and see that Le Havre’s residents would soon again have a home. Along with his team, he constructed a series of uniform apartment blocks using large slabs of concrete with interiors to match the needs of modern families. The result is a city unlike you’ll find anywhere else in France; the concrete structures built on a grid plan more closely resembling a contemporary North American city than a port town in Normandy. While perhaps not as sophisticated in appearance compared to other French cities, the choice to use concrete was one of integrity rather than style. Apartment buildings in Le Havre | © tetedelart1855 / Flickr
One of the post-war city’s most unique features is the St. Joseph church. Built during the 1950s, again out of concrete, the site serves equally as an homage to the 5,000 civilians lost in World War II as it does a place of worship.