Notre Dame de Raincy

People wander and sit in the interior of Notre Dame de Raincy.

As part of the Beton Brut seminar class students engage in Active Learning Field Excursions, one of which was the visit to Notre Dame de Raincy by Auguste Perret. Designed and constructed as a showcase of the abilities of reinforced concrete as a structural building material. Economic reuse of formwork throughout the church creates a repetitive language of elements, as well as a set of precast concrete blocks; (3) primary blocks with different designs and (2) secondary filler blocks; which are reused throughout the walls to create different patterns along the same crucifix outline throughout each wall section. The incredible strength of reinforced concrete is showcased by the walls seemingly made purely of glass. Another important aspect of this visit was that Dean Tsolakis and Director Ghandour were present visiting the Paris Studio

People wander and sit in the interior of Notre Dame de Raincy. View from the entrance of Notre Dame de Raincy.

 

A detail image of a column/beam/roof connection that shows the striations of the formwork. An detail image of a column/beam/roof connection with visible evidence of the formwork used in the making process.

 

One person sitting in the area in front of the altar, with stained glass windows in the background. Cross section view at the foot of the alter showing the magnificent color changes between wall sections.

 

Shapes "cut into" the light grey ceiling. Detail image of the flexibility of the precast concrete blocks used in the wall systems, here used as a detail in the roof.

 

A space with many stained glass windows with people sitting in chairs. Example of the enormous scale of the church especially when compared to the thin vertical elements.

 

A group of people taking a ground up angled picture in front of a tower that has a clock.The Paris Studio pictured with Dean Tsolakis and Director Ghandour.