The modernity of Bordeaux is all around us: sometimes hidden, sometimes obvious, always uniquely present. The La Benauge fire station celebrated the Right Bank in the 1950s, and in 1970 the towers of the council offices embodied the city’s destiny as a major French metropolis. While the Cité du Grand Parc boldly embraces density as a solution for urban living, and the concrete and steel of the Mériadeck district contrast sharply with the buildings in the historic city centre, corporate architecture asserts its modernity at the entrances to the city and along the ring road. Modernity is also expressed in the refurbished interiors of disused warehouses: the imposing Entrepôt Lainé, originally used to store foodstuffs in the colonial period, has been elegantly converted into a space dedicated to contemporary art and architecture, namely the capc and arc en rêve.
In the 1990s, modernity spread once again through the city on both sides of the river. Large-scale public facilities contributed to the development of the city in the 20th century, while the tram network forms the basis for the 21st century metropolis. The riversides have become pedestrian areas for all to enjoy, and the city continues its development: in the south the Gare Saint-Jean, Bègles, Floirac and the Bordeaux Euratlantique scheme and the MÉCA; in the north, from the area around the lake to the wet docks with the Cité du Vin and the new Jacques-Chaban-Delmas Bridge. To the east, on the opposite bank, the former army and railway facilities of La Bastide have been reclaimed to create a new residential area around the botanical gardens and the Darwin complex.
This leaflet is not exhaustive: it invites you to make further discoveries, be they everyday or monumental, architectural or landscape-related.
Francine Fort, managing director of arc en rêve centre d’architecture
with Gilles Ragot, historien de l’art / Éric Martinez, historien de l’art / Delphine Costedoat, historienne de l’art / Christophe Catsaros, critique d’art et d’architecture / Karine Dana, journaliste, architecte, vidéaste / traductions : Martyn Back