La chapelle de la résidence universitaire Jean-Zay à Antony (Hauts-de-Seine) par Eugène Beaudouin : matériau traditionnel de l’architecture religieuse et création contemporaine

Après avoir mené à Antony la construction de la résidence universitaire Jean Zay en dix-huit mois (1954-1955), grâce à des procédés de construction industrialisés, Eugène Beaudouin compléta son projet d’une chapelle indépendante, réalisée selon des procédés traditionnels et consacrée en 1961. Dans cette chapelle Sainte-Croix, l’architecte renouait avec une certaine approche historiciste, sans pour autant rompre avec la création contemporaine. Son goût affirmé pour la prédominance du dessin s’y conjuguait à un jeu subtil sur la notion de « vérité du matériau », chère à l’architecture de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Mais le parti pris architectural semi-souterrain lui permettait surtout de développer un espace liturgique dramatisé, autour de la symbolique du baptême, en rapport direct avec les grands projets contemporains d’architecture religieuse.Using industrialised construction techniques, the architect Eugène Beaudouin was able to complete the building of the Jean Zay university residence, at Antony, in eighteen months, between 1954 and 1955. After completing this hall of residence, the architect then designed an independent chapel, built with traditional techniques and consecrated in 1961. In this Sainte-Croix chapel, Beaudouin renewed a certain historicist approach although he did not turn his back on contemporary creation. His pronounced taste for the predominance of design was associated with a subtle play on the notion of ‘the truth of the material’, one of the key architectural precepts of the second half of the 20th century. But the half-underground architecture also allowed him to create a dramatised liturgical space, around the symbolism of baptism and in relation to other contemporary projects in religious architecture

La chapelle de la résidence universitaire Jean-Zay à Antony (Hauts-de-Seine) par Eugène Beaudouin : matériau traditionnel de l’architecture religieuse et création contemporaine

Using industrialised construction techniques, the architect Eugène Beaudouin was able to complete the building of the Jean Zay university residence, at Antony, in eighteen months, between 1954 and 1955. After completing this hall of residence, the architect then designed an independent chapel, built with traditional techniques and consecrated in 1961. In this Sainte-Croix chapel, Beaudouin renewed a certain historicist approach although he did not turn his back on contemporary creation. His pronounced taste for the predominance of design was associated with a subtle play on the notion of ‘the truth of the material’, one of the key architectural precepts of the second half of the 20th century. But the half-underground architecture also allowed him to create a dramatised liturgical space, around the symbolism of baptism and in relation to other contemporary projects in religious architecture