Stadium

Project

The initial project in 1956 envisaged building the stadium beneath the Maison de la Culture. This was not however possible, since a subsidy might be allocated by either the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Sports, but not by both.

In 1958, a quasi-final decision to use the quarry was taken. Construction was postponed until the second phase of the works. Plans were for a stadium with a lawn and an athletics track, two stands (a main one and an annex, with a total capacity of 4,000 spectators), a mixed changing room with a capacity of 120 places, and a flat for the caretaker.

In the final project, the additional stand was abandoned in favour of a single stand of 3,800 seats, 500 of which were covered, while the changing rooms had an increased capacity of 160 places.

The stadium would be built in reinforced concrete with rough formwork. The roofing as planned was to be a thin, convex concrete “veil”. The structure was to incorporate glazed facades with sections of undulating glass at the level of the changing rooms.

The formal appearance of the building, curved and light, was made possible thanks to the technological advances of the time. The convex concrete “veil” was abandoned when the building permit was filed, to be replaced by an inclined slab on concrete portal frames.

Access to the stands was by the top of a gently sloping ramp leading to a terrace which Le Corbusier described as a “boulevard”.

After many delays, due in particular to financial problems, the building permit was finally granted on 14 January, 1965. When Le Corbusier died on 28 August, 1965, the project was entrusted to the head of his agency, André Wogenscky. 

Construction of the stadium did not begin until December 1966. The construction site suffered interruptions and a few modifications were made to the design, but without altering Le Corbusier’s original project. Provisional acceptance was made on 5 November, 1968 but the site was not completed until 12 May, 1969.