Renée Gailhoustet

Renée Gailhoustet (French pronunciation: [ʁəne ɡajustɛ]; 15 September 1929 – 4 January 2023) was a French architect known for her contribution to social housing in the Paris suburbs. She is one of the few prominent architects to build a career in the field of social housing.

Biography

Gailhoustet was born in Oran, French Algeria on 15 September 1929. She was the daughter of Maurice Gailhoustet, accountant and then deputy director of the newspaper L'Écho d'Oran.

After first embarking on philosophy studies at the Sorbonne, she earned a degree in letters. In 1952, she turned to architecture at the École des beaux-arts in Paris under Marcel Lods, André Hermant et Henri Trezzini, the only section that admitted women. She obtained her architecture diploma in 1961. It was there that she met Jean Renaudie, who was later to a become a close associate in many of her architectural projects. She was an activist in the Young Communists movement while at university and decided to go into architecture out of political conviction.

In 1962 she joined Roland Dubrulle's firm where she worked on plans for renovation of the centre of Ivry-sur-Seine, eventually becoming the chief architect together with Jean Renaudie. In 1968, the Raspail Tower was completed. She then designed the Lénine, Casanova and Jeanne Hachette towers, as well as the Spinoza estate, following up the Liégat (where she lived for many years), which is a large complex combining 140 social housing and business premises, furnished with vegetated terraces and planted patios. She became the city's chief architect in 1969. It was in this role that she invited Jean Renaudie to reflect with her on the master plan for the renovation. Here he obtained his first commissions as an independent architect after leaving the Montrouge studio.

In her projects, Gailhoustet rejects the principle of strict separation of functions that prevails in many large housing estates, but she does not aim for a return to the traditional city. Based on the reflections of the architects of Team X, in particular the team of Georges Candilis, Alexis Josic and Shadrach Woods with whom she worked, and on the original proposals of Renaudie built in Ivry, she instead promotes the differentiation and the interweaving of spaces and functions. With her emphasis on individual terraces and multi level floor plans, she provided amenities to residents that are not typically associated with social housing.

In 1964, she established her own firm. Together with Renaudie, she put forward plans for a terraced approach to construction at Ivry. Rather than large complexes, she planned varied types of buildings, separated by open spaces, creating new horizons for the town and its social housing developments.

The Marat complex in Ivry-sur-Seine (1986)

In Ivry, between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s, Gailhoustet designed the Raspail, Lénine, Jeanne-Hachette and Casanova towers, the Spinoza complex and the terraced apartment buildings, Le Liégat and Marat. Her development of the La Maladrerie district at Aubervilliers, completed in 1984, with a rich blend of flats, an old people's home, artists' studios and shops, is a good example of her approach. By providing a variety of options, she believed "each inhabitant can use the town as he wishes." Gailhoustet's works are to be found mainly in the Paris suburbs, first and foremost at Ivry-sur-Seine and Aubervilliers, but also in Saint-Denis (renovation of the Ilot Basilique, 1981–1985), Villejuif, Romainville and Villetaneuse. In addition, she also undertook two developments on the island of La Réunion. Renée Gailhoustet lived in one of the buildings she designed.

Renée Gailhoustet also taught at the École Spéciale d'Architecture from 1973 to 1975 and has published a number of books.

Gailhoustet died on 4 January 2023, at the age of 93.

Literature

Own works:

• Des racines pour la ville, éditions de l'Épure, 1998, 151 p.
• Éloge du logement, éditions Massimo Riposati, 1993, 95 p.
• Le panoramique et l'Observatoire de la ville, éditions Ne Pas Plier, 2000