The view as you descend into the 'la cité radieuse'
Drive 50 kilometres east of Périgueux along the D5 and into 'la France profonde' and you will arrive at the small village of Génis. Climb upwards away from the village for a couple of kilometres until you top the hill. As you begin the descent down the other side you will find the brainchild of Albert Delsuc spread out below you dominating a large piece of the surrounding forêt de Born. This is the little known utopian city of Clairvivre 'la cité radieuse' as it was commonly known.
Stylish concrete benches decked out in primary colours, years ahead of their time
Somewhere to sit and chat
Clairvivre was founded by Albert Delsuc and designed by the architect, Pierre Forestier a native of the Périgord. Built between 1931 and 1933, Clairvivre was established because of Albert Delsuc's position as Président de la Fédération des Blessés du Poumon et Chirurgicaux. (Chairman of the federation of lung diseases and surgery). Ostensibly Albert Delsuc wanted to set up a centre of treatment where people suffering from lung diseases such as TB or First World War gas attack victims could receive regular treatment and rehabilitate themselves whilst living as normal a life as possible in homes with their families.
All the verandahs face directly south so lung patients can benefit from the sun
Originally Clairvivre was planned to have a development of over 500 dwellings but the cost proved too prohibitive so the project was scaled down to 200 dwellings. Workers from Albania, Italy, Poland, Germany, Algeria, and some locals worked day and night to acheive Albert Delsuc's goal. Surely this truly socialist idea was a blueprint for future projects and an example of true europeanism in action; somewhat different from the more egocentric and presciptive arrangement most of us have to work with today.
Centre de re-education professionelle
Strange to think that in the six short years from the completion of Clairvivre the workers responsible for the construction would be killing each other as that particular part of the european dream disappeared down the toilet pan.
Each honeycomb represents an alveoli, the very essence of Clairvivre's existence
Victims of gas attack or TB came to Clairvivre from all parts of France and their towns are represented in the honeycomb wall
As with most sanatoriums the houses and bungalows were built with a southerly aspect so patients could benefit from the maximum amount of sunshine and fresh air, at that time one of the standard treatments for diseases such as TB. They all enjoyed open terraces and balconies and it's not hard to imagine injured and diseased patients sunning themselves whilst enjoying the magnificent views and silence of a Dordogne forest. But don't think they were too isolated, Clairvivre enjoyed state of the art technology, each dwelling place benefitting from a four ring electric stove and oven, fridge and running hot and cold water. Separate systems were installed to deal with rainwater collection, sewage and wastewater. All the waste was processed on site by a fully biological sewage treatment system. The site enjoyed its own telephone switchboard for communication with the outside world, along with its own post office. This city in the forest also had a full range of shops selling luxury items such as cameras and radio sets.
Clairvivre's Post Office
and garage...
and infirmary complete with its own condom machine
In 1939 the University Hospital of Strasbourg established a centre for recuperation at Clairvivre and in June 1940 shortly after the German occupation of France, Irène Joliot-Curie began experiments with radium here. This work unfortunatley left a hazadous legacy which was only established and rectified as recently as 2003.
This one in lemon, well-maintained with a futuristic 'ship style' functional steel gangway
This one in rose, note all the units are interlinked by steps or walkways
In green, a different design
or lime with a touch of mustard
The inaugauration of July 30 1933 sounded like a party not to be missed. Present were detachments of the French Republican Guard along with one from their Scottish counterparts, the Scottish Guards. There was a water festival with Gala and fireworks and apparently during the celebrations six thousand bottles of Chambertin were downed. The local peasant farmers must have wondered what was going on and the disparity with the lives they lived. Whilst they lived in conditions not too dissimilar to the middle ages, the folk up at Clairvivre were partying, cooking on four ring electric stoves with ovens, washing in hot water and readily flushing thier loos.
The history is easy to follow
Today Clairvivre fulfills another function as well as continuing in its social role as a centre of re-education. As in the past people can still come here to learn new skills such as working in wood or electrical mechanics whilst for those wishing to be re-trained in agriculture or horticulture there is a farm where pigs and fowl are raised and vast greenhouses where various plants and crops are grown. But today the beaufifully maintained bungalows can be hired for holidays through Gites Ruraux. Indeed the site now has the appearance of an upmarket Butlins, so maybe it was Clairvivre that inspired Sir Billy before he went on to open his first holiday camp in 1936. Who knows what or who inspired architect, Pierre Forestier's design of the early thirties, Le Corbusier perhaps?
Clairvivre still has a role to play in today's world
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