Exposition "Un hôtel de ville Art déco à Nancy"

Nancy's Hôtel de Ville, the major edifice on Place Stanislas, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983, along with its two neighboring squares, is not just an 18th-century building. Two-thirds of this municipal complex was built between 1937 and 1964. In the 1930s, the City of Nancy wanted to extend its administrative services over the entire block between Emmanuel Héré's building and rue Pierre-Fourier. Two issues in particular had to be resolved: the functional junction between the existing building and the extension, and the choice of style. In the end, two young architects, Roger Mienville and Robert Parisot, responded to the demand with a monumental late Art Deco design that elegantly blended in with the 18th century architecture. But the genesis of the project was not straightforward, and neither was its implementation, which was interrupted by the war and hampered by problems caused by the instability of the land, and was not completed until 1964. In the years that followed, the complex was somewhat altered by the changing needs of the departments. Between 1992 and 1997, it was meticulously restored by the François-Henrion firm, which was also responsible for refurbishing the marriage hall and installing the Tourist Office. The exhibition retraces this history through models, photos and architectural drawings.

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