Ancien aérium
MonumentHidden Treasure
A poignant vestige of the Belle Époque medical era, the former Arès aerial hospital's stepped facade overlooks the Arcachon basin - a rare architectural reminder of the fight against childhood tuberculosis in the early 20th century.
History
On the Atlantic shore of the Arcachon Basin, on the edge of the pine forests of Gironde, the former aérium d'Arès stands like an elegant ghost, its feet almost in the water. This long building with its open galleries, designed to let the sea air and sunlight penetrate every nook and cranny of its passageways, embodies an era when medicine pinned all its hopes on the therapeutic virtues of the open air and heliotherapy. Its low silhouette, stretching along the seafront in a stepped façade, is unlike any other building on the coast. What makes this building truly unique is the coherence of its architecture in the service of care. Everything is designed with the patient in mind: the galleries are oriented to catch the sun from morning to night, the recesses create areas sheltered from the wind while allowing iodised air to circulate, and the immediate proximity of the pool means that children can enjoy therapeutic sea baths just a few steps from their beds. The whole complex is an architectural manifesto for the hygienic medicine of the Belle Époque. Listed as a historic monument since 2000, the aerial baths have been derelict since 1981. This ruin, inhabited by blackberries, ivy and maritime silence, offers a striking contemplative experience. Photographers and lovers of industrial and hospital heritage will find rare visual material here: facades eroded by the sea spray, galleries overgrown with vegetation, elusive perspectives that never seem to end. The natural setting further enhances this timeless atmosphere. Arès, a tranquil commune nestled between dunes, oyster farms and pine forests, offers an unspoilt environment where the monument blends into a landscape that has remained virtually unchanged since it was built. At sunrise, when the mist from the basin still envelops the waters and the pinkish light grazes the stepped façade, the site takes on a melancholic beauty that is absolutely unique.
Architecture
The Aérium d'Arès belongs to the hygienicist architectural movement of the first quarter of the 20th century, which made light, air and orientation as much a part of its aesthetic programme as its medical one. Architects Duval and Gonse opted for a resolutely horizontal approach: the building rises to just one level, but stretches a remarkable length facing the pool, maximising the surface area exposed to the benefits of the sea. The stepped façade - a succession of offsets in plan - is the most distinctive feature of the whole: it avoids the monotony of a straight front while creating alcoves that are naturally sheltered from the prevailing wind, allowing the children to enjoy the sun even on cooler days. The open galleries running the length of the maritime façade are the central functional element of the architecture. These walkways, protected on the roof but open on the sides, allow prolonged exposure to the sea air without climatic constraints. Their regular rhythm of pillars and openings gives the whole structure an aesthetic that is close to architectural rationalism, sober and stripped of all superfluous ornamentation, in the spirit of the sanitary architecture of the period. The materials used - probably rendering on masonry, common in the Gironde region - give the façades a light tone that reinforces the impression of healthiness and cleanliness intended by the medical programme. Today, despite its abandoned state, the complex is one of the best-preserved examples of early twentieth-century heliomarine architecture on the French Atlantic coast.
Related Figures
Fondation Wallerstein — institution philanthropique fondatrice de l'aérium, dont l'action s'inscrit dans le mouvement hygiéniste européen du début du XXe siècleDuval — architecte co-concepteur de l'aérium et de ses extensions, représentant de l'architecture sanitaire rationalisteGonse — architecte associé à Duval, co-auteur du projet et des agrandissements successifsLéon Wallerstein — probable figure tutélaire de la fondation éponyme, mécène engagé dans la lutte antituberculeuse
