In the south of France, a 40-minute drive east of Montpellier, lies the otherworldly resort town of La Grande Motte. Named after a nearby sand dune, the city is characterized by futuristic, pyramid-shaped apartment blocks in various relief forms, adorned with diverse vegetation including pines, planes, olives, poplars, and cypresses. Artists Charly Broyez and Laurent Kronental describe this unique character as "a fairy-tale vision of a land emerging from the uncharted territories of our psyche, loaded with memories, images, sounds, colors, history." Through their meticulous images, they reveal the city's distinctive architecture.
The conception of La Grande Motte dates back to the 1960s-1970s when France experienced a period of unprecedented economic growth which began in 1945 and lasted for thirty years, commonly referred to as the "Trente Glorieuses." This sparked a rise in mass tourism around the region and inspired the French government to develop cheaper, family-friendly alternatives. These were intended to retain vacationers who might otherwise be drawn to the attractive Spanish beaches or the ritzier attractions of the Côte d'Azur, farther east.
The resort town, which began development in 1965, was the major work of Turkish-born French architect Jean Balladur. He approached the former marshland as a blank canvas, drawing inspiration from the modernist aesthetic of the Bauhaus movement, the social-planning techniques behind Le Corbusier's Chandigarh and Oscar Niemeyer's Brasília, and—more surprisingly—the symbolic forms of the pre-Columbian pyramids in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
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Photos That Capture The Hypnotic Geometries of La Grande-MotteThrough these ideals, Balladur designed white symbolic concrete structures to serve as affordable accommodation for 37,800 tourists, in the form of vacation homes, rental apartments, and campsites. Charly Broyez and Laurent Kronental describe the buildings as truncated pyramids, deeply marked by symbols where every detail seems to have meaning. The artists' photography also presents La Grande Motte as a garden city, with abundant vegetation contrasting the drier landscapes nearby. This vegetation covers 70% of the city, with nearly 50,000 trees planted within its environs since its inception.
The design of the pyramidal buildings also responds to this vegetation; they have been staggered to slow the winds laden with mist, salt, and sand, creating a favorable climate for the growth of umbrella pines, plane trees, and other species. In the words of the artists, "La Grande Motte is a true Oasis City, where immersion in nature and the well-being of its inhabitants are at the heart of its urban philosophy."
A closer look at Balladur's architecture reveals a keen sense of forms, light, shadows, textures, and depth, uniquely expressed in the relief forms of each building. This is evident in the collage of curved balconies and protruding awnings of the Fidji apartment building, whose shape draws inspiration from pre-Columbian temples in Mexico. It's also apparent in the beachfront Poséidon apartment building, one of La Grande Motte's most striking architectural features, where elliptical relief balconies are staggered across two floors, creating a distinctive pattern. Other examples include face-shaped details on the exterior of the Palomino building and deconstructed terraces on the façade of the Delta building. Jean Balladur explains, "I attempted to compensate for this lack and to substitute symbolic backdrops for historical deficits. I embedded them in the shape of some buildings and places. Their appearance refers to a concrete or geometric image whose meaning derives from an archetypal idea inscribed in our unconscious since ancient times. The walker or resident then plays hide-and-seek with the mythical underpinnings hidden within."
With several neighborhoods that make up the resort, La Grande Motte is designed with six pedestrian bridges spanning roads and encouraging a better walking experience in the city. Balladur divided the neighborhoods into masculine and feminine archetypes. For example, Couchant, which he described as a feminine neighborhood, is a collective of buildings in the shape of semi-circles and round forms. This contrasts with Levant, a masculine neighborhood to the east built with straight lines and angular pyramids. At the center, the Grande Pyramide stands as one of the most emblematic architectural symbols of the city, rising beside the harbor. With its 15 floors, it establishes a connection between the Couchant and Levant neighborhoods, unifying the ideals of the city.
Furthermore, Balladur saw art as an integral part of the project, collaborating with three artists: Michèle Goalard, Albert Marchais, and Joséphine Chevry. Together, they scattered numerous works throughout the public spaces, allowing residents and visitors to encounter them daily. Some of these works also serve practical purposes: playgrounds, fountains, showers, and more.
This unique blend of architecture and art captivated photographers Charly Broyez and Laurent Kronental. In the summer of 2019, they began documenting La Grande Motte with a large-format field camera. Over four years, they explored the resort across multiple summers by bike and on foot, taking meticulous photographs. They avoided frames featuring people and captured many images during what Kronental calls the "blue hours" of the day—the hazy moments just before dusk and dawn.
Their extended and immersive experience within the resort shaped the nature of their images. Kronental described it to The New York Times as "like discovering a parallel world in which we don't know if we've found the remains of an ancient civilization, or entered the future." In an interview with Wallpaper, they noted, "The project grew richer with each exploration, allowing us to better grasp the essence of the city. This long-term approach also enabled us to cultivate a narrative that transcends visual representation. It is an immersion in a city designed to coexist with nature, revealing its subtleties over time. It invites reflection on how humans can inhabit the world more harmoniously, adapting to natural rhythms."
In 2010, the French Ministry of Culture formally recognized La Grande Motte as a place of "Outstanding Contemporary Architecture," making it the first town to receive this designation. The resort continues to draw tourists for its unique architectural experiences. Its harmonious blend of form, color, texture, pattern, vegetation, and diverse plant species stands as a testament to architecture that prioritizes human experience. La Grande Motte offers a curated sensory journey and provides valuable lessons for thoughtful, top-down approaches to urban design.
This feature is part of an ArchDaily series titled AD Narratives, where we share the story behind a selected project, diving into its particularities. Every month, we explore new constructions from around the world, highlighting their story and how they came to be. We also talk to the architects, builders, and community, seeking to underline their personal experiences. As always, at ArchDaily, we highly appreciate the input of our readers. If you think we should feature a certain project, please submit your suggestions.
