ReportingThe Breton city would be very different without the sculptural constructions of the architect Georges Maillols. While his iconic Horizons towers have dominated the city since 1970, today we are rediscovering the vast legacy of this discreet visionary.
Encased in a plastic snow globe, the Horizons fill with glitter as they shake, like a local Eiffel Tower. Monique Maillols, the widow of the architect behind these twin towers, carefully holds this little vintage treasure. A little over fifty years after their birth, these emblematic constructions of the Rennes panorama, almost 100 meters high, are finally experiencing their hour of glory. And Rennes is rediscovering the strong mark left in the city by the architect Georges Maillols from the 1950s to the 1970s. The latter shaped the appearance of the Breton city by constructing around a hundred buildings and houses there, ie 10,000 housing units. A rare production for one and the same architect.
Among his achievements, the Horizons towers remain the most famous, the first high-rise buildings for residential use built in France, in 1970. Two sculptural curves of white concrete which accommodate 480 two-room apartments tangled on thirty floors. A village within the city. “The Horizons snow globes would be a hit today, given the success of the towers! », having fun Sven Wacquet, a forty-year-old who lives at 24and floor of one of the famous buildings.
A movie set
As soon as they enter their 54 square meter one-bedroom apartment, the visitor is struck by the incredible panorama offered by the bay windows of the adjoining living room. A decor extended by a beautiful cocoon terrace, sheltered from view. “One can hardly get tired of this sight, assures Sven Wacquet, who, when he was younger, lived in another apartment in Les Horizons. At the first light of day, it is sublime. At nightfall, you feel immersed in an American city of a thousand lights. » A magnetic view that recalls the principles of modern architecture of Le Corbusier, for whom interior and exterior should be intimately linked. But the curves of the Horizons also evoke the lines of the two “cob of corn” from Marina City to Chicago (1959-1967) as much as the style of Oscar Niemeyer in Brasilia (1960).
“Les Horizons was a party place! A lot of young students stayed there because it wasn’t expensive”, David Cras, architect.
Overlooking the rue de Brest, their elliptical shape gives the towers an obvious cinematography. The Czech writer Milan Kundera lived there at the end of the 1970s, on the top floor. Last spring, Etienne Daho shot a clip there in which the singer evokes his young years in Rennes and those of the local rock scene. From the same generation, the Breton architect David Cras confirms: “Les Horizons was a party place! Many young students stayed there because it was cheap. Our whole generation knew about the towers and yet we knew nothing of their creator, who we imagined to be American! »
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