“The Forgotten Houses of the Arcachon Basin” by Architect Achille Penciolelli

French modern architecture is full of unsuspected treasures. We know the great figures of the Modern Movement—Le Corbusier, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jean Prouvé—and yet, an essential part of this heritage remains unknown. This is the domestic architecture of the second half of the 20th century, a discreet heritage, overshadowed by the great official narratives.

Where California has managed to elevate the Case Study Houses to international models, France still struggles to recognize the value of its own modernist experiments. Among them, an exceptional corpus of houses nestles in the landscapes of the Atlantic coast, particularly around the Arcachon Basin. Bold houses, designed to inhabit the landscape, but which have never received the recognition they deserve.

As a trained architect, I thought I knew modern domestic architecture. I had studied the Case Study Houses, analyzed the plans of Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, and Pierre Koenig. I believed I mastered this light and rational architecture, where the fluidity of spaces and continuity with the landscape define a new way of living. And yet, I was in for a surprise. The shock occurred far from California, in a place where I did not expect such a revelation. On the shores of the Arcachon Basin, between pine forests and dunes, I discovered an unsuspected heritage. Remarkable modernist houses, with pure lines and controlled volumes, hide discreetly there, ignored by the general public and institutions alike. They exist, they embody a form of radical modernity, and yet, they have never achieved iconic status.

In the 1960s, a generation of Bordeaux architects took up the question of individual housing and developed an architecture adapted to the conditions of the Atlantic coast. Salier, Courtois, Lajus, and Sadirac designed houses that dialogue with their environment rather than imposing a form on it. They rely on light structures, favor raw materials, and promote spatial continuity between the interior and exterior. These principles, which irresistibly evoke the American Case Study Houses, have never been celebrated as such.

And yet, their quality is evident. It is enough to walk through these landscapes, to catch a glimpse of one of these villas behind a hedge of pines, to cross their threshold to understand the extreme precision of their design. Inside, one discovers interiors bathed in light, liberated volumes, subtle framings of the surrounding nature. These houses breathe a different way of living, where architecture becomes the support for a simpler, more essential relationship with the world. They seek neither to impress nor to dominate their site but to extend a dialogue with it. A lesson in modernity, still incredibly relevant today.

Among these unknown houses, Villa Geneste is undoubtedly one of the most striking examples. Designed with a logic of aerial framework and total openness to the landscape, it combines the influences of Richard Neutra and Brazilian modernism. As in the Californian realizations, the structure seems to fade in favor of a transparency that invites nature to penetrate the inhabited space. But one also finds here the Brazilian approach of a Lúcio Costa or an Oscar Niemeyer, where the house, slightly elevated, detaches itself from the ground to better dialogue with its environment. The use of concrete reinforces this tension between brutality and finesse that characterizes the greatest modernist achievements. An exceptional house, whose very existence raises a troubling question: how many other masterpieces are today threatened by oblivion?

The lack of recognition of these architectures is no coincidence. Unlike the Case Study Houses, supported and documented by an institution, these French houses have never benefited from media coverage, nor even real consideration in the official history of modern architecture. They have remained local productions, relegated to the rank of simple vacation homes, while they express an exemplary response to contemporary housing issues.

But it is still time to act. For these houses, far from being simple architectural curiosities, embody an approach to housing that deeply resonates with our current concerns. They remind us that there is another way to build and live, more respectful of the landscape, more open to the outside, more in line with our needs today.

Their rediscovery is an invitation. An invitation to explore these territories with a fresh eye, to detect behind a weathered wooden facade or a discreet concrete structure a forgotten part of our architectural history. To enter these spaces, to feel the light, the circulation of air, the relationship with nature. To understand that we have in France an exceptional modernist heritage, which it is up to us today to preserve and celebrate.

France has nothing to envy California. We have our own “Case Study Houses,” but they have remained in the shadows. Perhaps it is finally time to reveal them.

Achille Penciolelli
Architect HMNOP, advisor for the south-west of France for Architecture de Collection