We’re on line 39 of the Bordeaux Métropole bus network, in the suburban town of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles to the north-west of Bordeaux. One of the stops has a rather mysterious name, the mysterious name being linked to the story of a model village which, even today, feels like a time capsule containing the hopes and aspirations of 1960s France. The name of the bus stop? Villagexpo!
The story goes that Villagexpo Aquitaine was an event which ran from 13 September to 4 November 1968 and which aimed to showcase modern house designs to prospective buyers keen to move away from their inner-city apartment blocks. At that time, individual homes represented the cornerstone of France’s housing policy. Similar to an initiative rolled out a couple of years earlier in Saint-Michel-sur-Orge near Paris, the Saint-Médard event comprised 142 walk-through houses of thirteen different designs, delivered by architect/building contractor pairings chosen from around 400 candidate projects. Similar events were also held in Nantes and Lille.
 |
| Non-AI visual featuring the original dates of the event. |
In the seven weeks following the official inauguration of Villagexpo by Albin Chalandon (France’s Minister of Public Works), Bordeaux Mayor Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Saint-Médard Mayor Christian Dussedat, and various other dignitaries, around 80,000 people travelled from Bordeaux and beyond to view the show houses and enjoy a variety of activities, including painting and sculpture exhibitions, musical performances, prize-winning contests, and lectures and conferences, all for the entrance fee of just 3 francs. Sud Ouest newspaper hailed the 'village sans habitants' (the uninhabited village) as 'a permanent spectacle'!
The 15-hectare plot of land, which was transformed for the Villagexpo extravaganza (complete with a 900-capacity visitor car park), was surrounded by wild greenery at the time. Unlike today, it was not served by any form of public transport. Shuttle buses therefore ran from the Esplanade des Quinconces in central Bordeaux throughout the day. But while the Villagexpo homes appeared to spring out of nowhere, they were never intended to be an isolated housing estate. The Saint-Médard authorities had more extensive development plans for this part of the town, which evolved from the village of Gajac. Many more streets and homes were built over the following years, culminating in the arrival of the massive E. Leclerc shopping centre in 1992.
 |
| This is how this part of the Gajac district of Saint-Médard area looked in the 1950s. There wasn't much going on. The blurred area over to the left here and in the following pictures is part of the explosives plant, still today commonly referred to as 'la Poudrière'. Source: IGN/Remonter le temps. |
 |
| A few years after the event, here is the same area in the 1970s, the yellow lines indicating the Villagexpo development. Note the municipal sports stadium top left. Source: IGN/Remonter le temps. |
 |
| The present-day view, including the Leclerc shopping complex top right. Source: IGN/Remonter le temps. |
The Villagexpo development was a true feat though, as explained by the chair of the event, one M. Philippon, in an interview with Sud Ouest: “We were able to achieve this first and foremost thanks to our team spirit… There was close collaboration between the Gironde department, the Bordeaux Urban Community, the municipality of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, the developer Habitat Girondin, the architects, the contractors, the relevant agencies, and – something that is truly extraordinary about this project – the government, which provided significant support under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing.”
 |
| Contemporary coverage in Sud Ouest as retrieved from the newspaper's most excellent Archives section. |
The event proved so popular that visitors were encouraged to be flexible by travelling to Saint-Médard on weekdays rather than on overcrowded weekends. To make this option more appealing, the closing time was extended to 10 pm on Wednesdays. What is more, the original closing date of 28 October was postponed by a week.
Rather than being unattainable dream homes, these were relatively affordable properties set at around 600 francs per square metre. In his Sud Ouest interview, Philippon explained that “these homes meet the criteria for affordable housing designed to help residents become first-time homeowners. […] The houses will be sold to visitors who have expressed interest in a particular model and wish to purchase it. In addition, anyone can purchase a model and have it built on their own land using the financing option of their choice.”
When visiting the estate today, it is easy to see how the model village was organised, with houses of each design grouped together in areas known as 'îlots' (islets). However, the pavilion that welcomed visitors to the 1968 event has long since disappeared, and additional rows of more recent houses have taken its place. While there is no on-site information about the legacy of Villagexpo, a page authored by Florian Grollimund on the Bordeaux Métropole 'Carte des Patrimoines' makes it possible to identify some of the more distinctive designs and the people behind them.
Angular, flat-roofed homes such as these must have seemed very futuristic in 1968, and were the work of the architects Prévôt and Courrech.
These houses, designed by architects Andrault and Parat, seem straight out of a Trente Glorieuses comic strip with their curves and slanted roofs.
A number of the islets comprise compact terraced housing conceived by architects including Bouey, Bersagol, Calmon, Tagini and Piequet.
Some houses even enjoyed the luxury of an upper floor. Personally I find these houses remind me of the UK!
More pleasingly now retro-futuristic designs:
All very varied then, and although it was very quiet on the cold winter's day that I visited, reports suggest that Villagexpo has a pleasant, village-like atmosphere, with an active residents' association organising many events to keep the estate entertained (their Facebook page certainly suggests that there is always plenty going on). In 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the first residents moving in, a series of events were held to celebrate the estate's first half-century. Perhaps another round of festivities will be held in a few years' time to celebrate the estate's 60th anniversary.
Meanwhile, even though the 1968 event is now very much in the distant past, the model village concept lives on in Bordeaux in the form of the very Truman Show-like Homexpo complex in the Bordeaux-Lac district, which is located to the north of the city. Founded in the 1970s and no doubt inspired by the success of Villagexpo, the complex comprises 13 homes and their building contractors, who are on hand year-round to guide customers embarking on their personal property journey. It is one of the biggest permanent exhibits of its kind in France.
0 commentaires: