Around the cités universitaires

Let us wander around the university campus, taking in buildings by Fernand Pouillon and René Egger, and finding respite in a city within a city, where the passing of time and neo-classical, regional and modern influences can be seen. This trend is set to continue, with a vast regeneration project set to change the face of the city once more.



Autour des cités universitaires Cité universitaire Abram Bibliothèque universitaire de la faculté de droit et économie Faculté de droit et science politique Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines Bibliothèque universitaire de la faculté de lettres extension de la faculté de lettres et de sciences humaines d'Aix en Provence Archives nationales d'outre-mer
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Archives nationales d'outre-mer

Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer

A Rich Complex Drawing from Geology

The Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer centre was inaugurated in 1966, at the end of the decolonisation era. This centre, a part of the Aix university campus, houses over three centuries of colonial history, from the XVIIth to the XXth. The first building resembles a geological formation. From the access path to the first extension (1986), we get a glimpse of shapes resembling basalt columns, decomposing in a multitude of vertical stone prisms. This atypical architectural vocabulary is also present on the successive extensions as well as the original 1966 construction, a stone monolith housing the collections and breached with minuscule openings. The last extension, which houses public spaces, was inaugurated in 1996, and takes the form of a blind parallelepiped rectangle opening up to the outside via numerous, randomly-placed skylights punctuating the facades and the roof. This rather spectacular extension was awarded the First Realization prize in 1996. The visitor can clearly tell that the architectures of the different phases of the complex are in perfect dialogue with each other, all while asserting their respective eras, providing a cohesive ensemble rich with meaning.
Architect :
Charles Musetti, José Levasseur-Claude Aureau-Thierry Lacoste, Antoinette Robain et Claire Guieysse.
Year :1966-1ère extension 1986-2eme extension 1996
Type : archives
Adress :
29 chemin du Moulin de Testas
Géolocalisation google 43.297292,5.361493