Architecture in Limoges and

Limousin, FranceComenius project N&U 12-14

Collège Guy de Maupassant, Limoges

The oldest construction in the center city : Half timbered houses. In this form of construction, the skeleton frame of the building is

made of timber (wood), usually oak. Half-timbered houses have exposed wood framing and the

spaces between the wooden timbers are filled with mud and straw, brick, stone or wattle and daub, (the wattle is made by weaving thin branches or slats between upright stakes).  The word colombage in French comes from the word colombe which means, in 1334, doorjamb or doorpost. The word Colombe comes from the Latin work column.

Half timbered construction is a construction technique used by the Romans and called opus craticium.

The oldest half timbered constructions in Limoges are located at rue de la Boucherie or Cour du Temple.

Mostly used construction : Granite stone houses

The traditional Limousin houses are low and solid, built out of stone, mainly blocks of hewn granite. The granite stone is a local stone. The granite has a bluish, grayish or brownish tint to more or less reddish depending on the quantity of iron oxide within.

The main quarry is at Saint Yrieix. The granite stone is used to make decorative corner stones. It is used in ornamental walls, or around a window frame. The granite stones are also mixed together to make a wall.

Typical blue-grey granite house built in the beginning of the XXth century.

The BFM: the Multimedia Francophone Library

It is the city center main library, it opened in 1998 and it is made of granite, wood and glass. Within the library there is a Gallo roman/ Ancient Roman mosaic in its atrium (a large open space located within the building), overlooked by a huge rectangular reading room. There is also a huge tapestry made of dark blue and golden thread, hanging on the walls. There is also an indoor garden with its glass roof that links the old and the new building together.

 

In the BFM : an ecological and modern architecture which links the past tense and the future.

Near the forest : Feuillardier houses .

Feuillard is a word that refers to a chestnut branch cut in half and flattened.

Feuillardier is a job which consists in making the chestnut circle slats that are wrapped around wine barrels. The feuillardier usually works in the forest where he can find chestnut sprouts. He builds a hut or lodge in the forest, which serves for both his workshop and his accommodation when he is far from home. The frame of the hut is made of interlaced and curved wood shaped as a semi circular dome. It is usually about 2 meters high, 3 meters wide and 4 meters long. It is then covered with long wood chips. The whole structure is 15cm thick to ensure it is waterproof.

Trompe-l'œil  (French for “fools the eye.") is an art technique involving realistic

imagery in order to create an optical illusion. It makes a two-dimensional work appear in 3D. Paints, chalks and spray paints can be used to make a trompe l’oeil. The most famous trompe l’oeil in Limoges is located in Place de la Motte. It is a reminder of the History of Limoges and the Limousin region from the Middle Ages up to now and a tribute to the History of the city of Limoges and the Limousin region through the ages. Many elements of the region are represented on that magnificent trompe l’oeil: including its renowned porcelain, a basket ball that stands for the CSP (Cercle Saint Pierre), the circus of Nexon, a half timbered house and a house made with granite. In one of the windows on the left one can see the famous painter Auguste Renoir, born in Limoges and on the right the patron saint of the goldsmiths who is also the patron saint of the Limousin region, he christened the region and saved the population from the Mal des Ardents in the year 1000.

Painted wall « Trompe l’œil »

Credits :Logo : by Marius BossisTrompe l’œil : by Lycée Jean Monnet, LimogesAll photos are taken by the students : thanks to

Anissa Mediouni, Rébecca Durant, Emma Vergt, Sandie Leymarie, Anthony Manot, Mathis Hartman, Jonathan Moussault, Marco Piégay and Marius Bossis.