From Tony Garnier to the Urban Museum

8/9/2019 From Tony Garnier to the Urban Museum

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From Tony Gamier to the Urban

Museum:

the birth of a cultural

housing project

by lain Cheneyez

A la in C henevez is the d i rec to r o f the Tony Gam ie r Urban M useum inLyon.

France.

University

t ra ined and fo rmer Tem pora ry A t tache o f Educa t ion and Resea rch a t the Un ive rs i ty o f

Franche

Comte.

he ho lds a doc to ra te in sociology. H is thes is focused on the anc ien t roya l sa l t

wo rks in Arc -e t -Senans France -Doubs) whe re he con t r ibu ted to the

In Search of the Ideal City

exh ib i ti on wh ich was inaugu ra ted in May 2000.

Introduction

The Tony Gamier Urban Museum const i tutes an

unusual , monumental outdoor cul tural s t ructure.

It is a residential housing estate first of all

designated as Habitations a Loyer Modere (HLM),

low-income housing. Located in the working-class

neighbourhood known as the Etats Unis in the

eighth district of Lyon, it is open to tourist visits 1

because of the presence of twenty-five mural

paintings on a surface area of more than 5,500 m 2 .

Nineteen of these paintings pay tribute to the

pioneer of modern urbanism: Tony Garnier. They

are complemented by six additional international

representations of ideal public housing.

Built by the architect Tony Garnier (1869-

1948) between 1920 and 1933, the working-class

neighbourhood of the Etats Unis in Lyon is the

birthplace of an original experiment in promoting

urban culture, initially piloted by local residents.

The first stage in the creation of the Urban

Museum was the renovation, in 1985, of buildings

by Greate r Lyon s Public Office of D evelop me nt

mUSeUD

ISSN 1350-0775.

no. 223 vol. 56. no.

3

20O4)

Published by Blackwell Publishing. 9600 Garsington Road. Oxford, 0X4 2DQ UK) and 350 Main Street. Maiden. MA 02148 USA)


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W H A T F U N C T I O N ? P R E S E R V A T I O N . M A N A G E M E N T , P R E S E N T A T I O N

and Con s t r uc t ion O PAC ) . The n , in 1988 , on th e

ini t ia t ive of the res idents , ar t is ts f rom the Cite de la

Creation2 de s igned and executed an aes the t i c

compos i t ion on the gab led wa l l s o f the

ne ighbour hood . This wor k of a r t mar ked the b i r th

of the Ur ban Museum even though i t took ten

years of effort to materialize.

The museum r ece ived awar ds f r om

UNESCO in 1991 f or i t s exempla r y cu l tu r a l ac t ion ,

and f r om the Tour i sm Tr ophies in 2002 . I t was

recognized for i ts public interes t and label led

Tw ent ie th - C entur y Her i t age in 2003 by the

F r e n c h G o v e r n m e n t a n d h a s c o n t i n u e d t o d e v e l o p

r ap id ly .

3

Th i s wor k ing- c la s s p r o jec t f o r a museum

s i te in an ur ban zone was no t ach ieved wi thout

incidents or controvers ies . I t is the f rui t of

col lect ive c i t izen act ion and the s truggle for i ts

p e r m a n e n c e c o n t i n u e s t o d a y . W h a t w e r e t h e s t a g e s

and s takes and pr ocedur es and who wer e the

actors? Let us re trace this his tory to be passed on

to f u tur e gene r a t ions .

T h e

h i s t o r y

o f a

c u l t u r a l c o n v e r s i o n

The f ounda t ion of the Tony Gamie r hous ing e s ta te ,

the s i t e o f the Ur ban Museum, da te s back to the

beginn ing of the twent ie th cen tur y . The c i ty o f

Lyon , in the Rhone- Alpes r eg ion , a t the conf luence

of the Rhone and the Saone r ivers , is a c i ty with a

commer c ia l t r ad i t ion tha t has expe r ienced in tense

indus t r i a l g r owth s ince the mid- n ine teen th cen tur y .

W or ker s dwe l l ings in the c i ty cen t r e wer e of ten

s lums wi th pr ob lems of hygiene and insa lubr i ty .

The mayor o f the c i ty , Edouar d Her r io t , dec ided to

launch mass ive deve lopment p r o jec t s in o r de r to

a t t r ac t new indus t r i e s and to house wor ke r s on a

vas t pla in south-eas t of the c i ty. The archi tect Tony

Gamie r , a na t ive of Lyon , who i s cons ide r ed

today as one of the pr ecur sor s o f moder n town

p l a n n i n g , 4 was chosen to d i r ec t the p r o jec t s .

Eager to so lve the pr ob lem of wor k ing-

c l a s s a c c o m m o d a t i o n , T o n y G a m i e r p r o p o s e d

cons t r uc t ing the f i r s t publ ic hous ing in F r ance ,

Habi ta t ions Bon Mar che ( HBM) , in a new

n e i g h b o u r h o o d a n d a c c o r d i n g t o a n i n n o v a t i v e

a p p r o a c h : t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d w a s n o t t o b e

i so la ted . On the cont r a r y , i t shou ld we lco me

numer ous soc ia l ac t iv i t i e s in a ha r monious and

ver dant env i r onment . The p lan was to ca te r f o r

12 ,000 inhabi tan t s . Cons t r uc t ion began in 1920

and ended in 1934 . Fo l lowing the inaugur a t ion ,

many f ami l ie s moved in .

T h e T o n y G a m i e r b u i l d i n g s w e r e n e v e r

subsequendy r epa i r ed and in the 1980s the

ensemble was s lowly de te r io r a t ing . An i r on ic

anecdote i l lus tra tes the s i tuat ion: the f i lm crew

wo r kin g on the adap ta t ion of M. Kunder a s nove l ,

The Unbearable Lightness of Being was looking for

an ur ban s i t e which r e sembled the P r ague Ghe t to

dur ing the 1930s : the Tony Gamie r hous ing e s ta te

d i sp layed the s ta te o f dec r ep i tude tha t was be ing

sought . This ep i sode encour aged the r e s iden ts ,

among o the r s , to s e t up a t enan ts commit tee in

or de r to ob ta in the r enova t ion of the i r

accommoda t ion f r om the owner s , the OPAC of

Gr ea te r Lyon: Renova t ion occur r ed because we

a s k e d fo r i t . . . w e fo u g h t t o o b t a i n i t . W e h a d t o

asser t ourselves recal ls Li ly Eigeldinger , then

Pr es iden t o f the t enan ts com mit tee and k ingp in

f or the mobi l i za t ion of the ne ighbour hood . Tha t

was in 1983 and the da te mar ked the b i r th o f

col lect ive act ion by the res idents who, af ter twenty

yea r s o f commitment and s t r uggle , ach ieved the

P u b l i s h e d b y B l a c k w e l l P u b l i s h i n g . 9 6 0 0 S a r s i n g l o n R o a d . O x f o r d 0 X 4 2 D Q ( U K ) a n d 3 5 0 M a i n S t r e e t . M a i d e n . M A 0 2 U 8 ( U S A )


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l a i n C h e n e v e z

total transformation of the image of the

neighbourhood. At the same time, and in order to

accelerate the renovation that was dragging on, a

cultural and heritage project was born in 1987,

following a meeting with the mural artists of the

Cite de la Creation.

The inhabitants and the artists of the Cite

de la Creation decided to create an outdoor

cultural i t inerary by proposing mural paintings on

the gabled walls of the buildings, on the theme

of the indu strial city : the major wo rk of the

architect Tony G arnier. At the origin of the project

was the simple and cleverly formulated idea of

Eddie Gilles-Di Pierno, the curren t presiden t of the

local committee, this project s mission will be to

obtain funding for the renovation of the

neighbourhood by setting up a cultural and heritage

project rather than to setting fire to cars . It was an

ambitious project which would take ten years,

from 1988 to 199 7, for com pletion, as some people

deemed that a working-class housing estate would

not be suitable for this sort of undertaking.

C o n d i t i o n s o r c u l t u r a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n

The goal of renovating

a

public housing estate may

seem, initially, rather ordinary. Ultimately, i t was

an ambitious project, in many ways exemplary,

which was carried out: 1,568 dwellings occupied

by more than 4,000 people were renovated on a

single site; 30,000 m 2 of public space, including

the creation of courtyards and landscaped streets,

was developed; a Multimedia Services Information

Centre, intended to strengthen the link between

inhabitants and public services (the post office,

telephone company, public util i t ies, etc.), was

created and, in 1992, a Tony Garnier Urban

Museum Association was established and

mana ged by the tenants. The latter s missions, as

indicated by Article 1 of i ts Statutes, include:

(a) managing and promoting the Tony Garnier

Urban Museum, dedicated to the architect, a native

of Lyon and builder of low-cost housing,

Habitations a Bon Marche in the Etats Unis

district (Lyon 8th); (b) developing studies on Tony

Garnier and his work, ensuring the dissemination

as well as promotion, and (c) developing research

on the renovation and development of remarkable

neighbourhoods or architecture, and the

procedures for involving the inhabitants in these

processes.

This working-class initiative invented,

within a neighbourhood, an innovative concept

that l inked culture and housing, putting forward as

a principle that the inhabitants must play an active

role in programm ing and implement ing operat ions

for improving their neighbourhood. Taking into

account the value of the human factor is as

important as redefining the environment. The

identity of the Tony Garnier Urban Museum rests

on this particularity, which intimately links

artefacts of urban art with a cultural project. It is

essential for understanding the frame of mind that

guides the way it is run and leads it to encourage

the active participation of i ts inhabitants in the

development of i ts activities.

Many incidental and structural reasons can

help us understand the success of the project. First

of all, the sociological factors. Located far from

the centre of Lyon, the Tony Garnier housing

estate remained a village for a long time. The

inhabitants had known each other for years and

shared a common culture, formed in their

miseun

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W H A T F U N C T I O N ? P R E S E R V A T I O N , M A N A G E M E N T . P R E S E N T A T I O N

working-class origins, political m ilitancy, years of

resistance during the war and the isolation of the

neighbourhood until 1959. This sociological and

geographical situation probably facilitated the

neighbourhoods zone, in 1986, secured the

necessary funding for the renovation of the

neighbourhood from the

state,

region, dep artment

and City of Lyon: 43 million French francs over

M U S

T

^ M Y

G A P N I P

w

v

U K D R f

2 3 . T h e

C i t e T o n y

G a m i e r .

L y o n . F r a n c e .

pheno meno n of mobil izat ion w hich was s t ructured

according to emotional and community

relationships.

Political factors also unde rpinne d the

cultural conversion of the neighbourhood. Public

funds,

allocated within the framework of municip al

policy and the attribution of supplem entary public

resou rces for the benefit of so-called sensitive

areas,

had decisive effect. The inscription of the Etats

Unis

neighbourhood in social development o f

thirteen

years,

out of whic h 2 m illion French francs

for public space and only 1.2 million French francs

for the production of mural paintings.

Recognition by UNESCO in 1991 opened

the door to the production of six international

painted walls and gave the project an international

scope, while also establishing its legitimacy at

local level. Finally, for a project characterized by

not being part of an administrative framework, the

action and involvement of exceptional women and

I

P u b l i s h e d b y B l a c k w e l l P u b l i s h i n g . 9 6 0 0 Q a r s i n g t o n R o a d . O x f o r d . 0 X 4 2 D Q U K ) a n d 3 5 0 M a i n S t r e e t M a i d e n . M A 0 2 1 4 8 U S A )


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rom Tony Gamier

to

the Urban Museum

A l a i n C h e n e v e z

men (inhabitants, artists, journa lists, directors,

OPAC, civil servants or politicians) were

determining factors. Inhabitants and artists knew

how to rally all the actors of the project to their

views and to make the initiative known by

mobilizing strong media support. No negative

effects, however, were felt as regards the mobility

of populations. The Urban Museum is the result of

structured collective action, involving different

actors with often diverging interests that were

none the less united in developing the project. It

was an organized process, structured by political

and historical events, but with operations

occasionally similar to militant activity such as

publicizing, gaining members, obtaining a

minimum consensus for funding and mobilizing

symbolic and collective recognition, etc. These

efforts resulted in the elaboration of a

development project, the organization of cultural

activities, the dissemination of an identity by

the residents, and the implementation and

management of a team of professional, salaried

workers .

T h e

f u t u r e

o

t h e U r b a n u s e u m

This collective achievement of working-class

enhancement has succeeded in changing the image

of the Etats Unis neighbourhood, not only in the

minds of the people who live there, but also in the

minds of the inhabitants of the Lyon conurbation

as a whole. The neighbourhood has remained

working-class and is occupied today by modest

families that provide a link with an eventful history

and past struggles.

Volunteers, administrators and employees

of the association have worked over the past years

on a project to ensure a better reception for

the 20,000 annual visitors. The museum is

equipped with communication tools, the first

fruit of a formalized policy of publicity and

communicat ion.

5

During the first semester of

2004,

this new stage also began work to develop

and improve the museum premises. The goal is to

make visiting the Tony Gamier Urban Museum a

must in the suburbs of Lyon, by concentrating

on the following focuses:

The en hanc em ent of the whole of Lyon s

heritage, through its inscription on

UNESCO s World Heritage List and the

implementation of a general inventory of

the most remarkable elements of

architecture; the creation of guided tours

and computerized reference information

on Tony Gamier.

2. The organization of exhibitions, in

connection with the cultural sites of the

region.

3 . The implem entation of a project in

common with the sites which are called

on to constitute a netw ork of associated

muse um centres . The Urban M useum

would be one of the key components of

this network, by addressing the

architecture and heritage of the twentieth

century and working as a laboratory for

urban policies.

However, with the beginning of this new

stage, the museum has had difficulty in

maintaining its means of existence. City funding

has become rare. While intended to be ad hoc,

such funding in fact assisted the first phase of the

project. In order to continue its cultural and social

mUSeUTI

S S N 1 3 5 0 - 0 7 7 5 . N o . 2 2 3 V o l 5 6 . N o . 3 , 2 0 0 4 ) j 8


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W H A T F U N C T I O N ?

P R E S E R V A T I O N .

M A N A G E M E N T .

P R E S E N T A T I O N

2 4

T h e

C i t e I d e a t e

d e

R u s s i e : L y o n . F r a n c e

a c t i o n i n t h e l o n g

t e r m

t h e m u s e u m m u s t o p e r a t e

w i t h r e g u l a r s u b v e n t i o n s . L i k e m a n y m o d e s t o r

m e d i u m - s i z e d i n s t i t u t i o n s t h e U r b a n M u s e u m

s u f f e r s f r o m t h e d i s e n g a g e m e n t o f t h e s t a t e a n d a

r e d u c t i o n

i n

p u b l i c

a s s i s t a n c e

i n

F r a n c e

a s

w e l l

a s

t h e

r e t u r n o f a t r a d i t i o n a l p o l i c y t h a t f a v o u r s l a r g e

s i t e s .

T h i s u n f a v o u r a b l e c o n j u n c t i o n i s

c o m p o u n d e d b y t h e d i f f i c u l t y o f t h e T o n y

G a m i e r U r b a n M u s e u m

t o

d e v e l o p

i t s o w n

r e s o u r c e s t h r o u g h t h e s a l e o f r e l a t e d s e r v i c e s a n d

p r o d u c t s a d i f f i c u l t o p t i o n t o i m p l e m e n t o n a s i t e

w h i c h i s o p e n i n a n u r b a n m i l i e u a n d i s o f

c o n s i d e r a b l e s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . V i s i t o r s c a n s t r o l l

t h r o u g h t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f

t h e

g a r d e n c o u r t y a r d s c o n t e m p l a t e t h e m u r a l

p a i n t i n g s a n d c o n s u l t t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s w h i c h a r e

a v a i l a b l e i n t h e s t r e e t s w i t h o u t

p a s s i n g

t h r o u g h

t h e w e l c o m e a n d e x h i b i t i o n c e n t r e . T h i s l i m i t s

t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e a s s o c i a t i o n t o d e v e l o p i t s

o w n

r e s o u r c e s .

C o n c l u s i o n

A s t h e r e s u l t o f e x e m p l a r y c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n a n d

s u p p o r t

f r o m

m a n y g o v e r n m e n t o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h e

U r b a n

M u s e u m i s a f ir st - r a t e e x a m p l e o f w o r k i n g -

c l a s s a r c h i t e c t u r a l a n d u r b a n h e r i t a g e . I t i s a

c u l t u r a l h o u s i n g e s t a t e w h i c h h a s b e e n d e c l a r e d o f

p u b l i c i n t e r e s t a n d h a s r e c e i v e d r e c o g n i t i o n a n d

s u p p o r t

f r o m

U N E S C O . I t i s a n e m b l e m a t i c s p a c e

o f

w o r k i n g - c l a s s c u l t u r e

i t s

a r c h i t e c t u r e h o u s i n g

c o m m i t m e n t i n i t i a t i v e a n d i t s r e s o l v e t o p r o d u c e

| a d d e d v a l u e i n c u l t u r a l a n d h e r i t a g e s y m b o l i c

t e r m s . W i t h i t s t w e n t y - f i v e m o n u m e n t a l p a i n t i n g s

t h i s e x c e p t i o n a l i t i n e r a r y c l a i m s a r t a n d c u l t u r e a s

a n

e s s e n t i a l r i g h t . T h e p a i n t e d w a l l s r e p r e s e n t t h e

m e m o r y

o f t h e i n h a b i t a n t s a n d a n e x e m p l a r y

e n d e a v o u r f o r t h e d e m o c r a t i z a t i o n o f c u l t u r e a n d

h e r i t a g e .

|

N O T E S

1 . T h e s e c o n d l a r g e s t c o n u r b a t i o n

i n

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1 . 3 0 0 . 0 0 0

i n h a b i t a n t s

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7/7

F r o m

T o n y G a m i e r t o t h e

U r b a n

M u s e u m

A l a i n

C h e n e v e z

2 . F o u n d e d i n 1 9 7 8 . t h e C i t e d e t a C r e a t i o n e n t e r p r i s e i s a g r o u p o f a r t i s t s

w h i c h h a s

o n e

o f

s e v e r a l g o a l s

t o

e m b e l l i s h u r b a n s p a c e . T h e y c r e a t e

m u r a l s , f r e s c o s , d e c o r a t i o n s

o r

u r b a n o b j e c t s w i t h i n p u b l i c

o r

p r i v a t e

s p a c e . T h e s e c r e a t i o n s a r e m e a n t t o r e v e a l , m a r k a n d / o r o r n a m e n t t h e

e n v i r o n m e n t . T h e C i t e

d e l a

C r e a t i o n

i s

i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y r e n o w n e d t o d a y :

i t

h a s s i g n e d m o r e t h a n

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w o r k s

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a s

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From Tony Garnier to the Urban Museum

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