Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins)
Monument
Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins), located in Dunkerque (Nord), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Dunkerque, Nord, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 51.0382, 2.3925
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00107506
The bewitching remains of a 1930s dance hall, L'Excentric Moulins embodies the festive, avant-garde spirit of Dunkirk, born from the imagination of an extraordinary local artist-entrepreneur.
History
In the heart of Dunkirk, in the district known as Excentric, are the last silent witnesses to a unique cultural and architectural adventure: the remains of L'Excentric Moulins. Today, the wrought iron fence and cash desk building are a precious fragment of a popular leisure complex designed on the eve of the Second World War, at a time when France was dancing on the razor's edge between insouciance and foreboding. What makes this site truly unique is the story of its creator: François Reynaert, a native of Rosendaël, a multi-talented decorative artist, inventor and public works contractor, had the singular ambition of providing his neighbourhood with a complete entertainment establishment. The Excentric Moulins was not just another dance hall: it was the centrepiece of an overall urban project, the "Excentric Quarter", of which Reynaert was both the visionary designer and tireless promoter. Now listed as a Historic Monument since 1988, these remains invite a form of melancholy contemplation. Where the brass of the orchestra and the laughter of the Dunkirk dancers once resounded, all that remains is stone and metal, frozen in the popular elegance of the 1930s. The attentive visitor can see in these forms the signature of an artist who thought of architecture as a lively, exuberant stage set. The Dunkirk setting adds a special dimension to the visit. Dunkirk was devastated by the bombings of 1940, and much of its heritage has been lost. The remains of L'Excentric Moulins are miraculous survivors, bearing witness to a bygone era when the city was inventing new spaces for sociability and pleasure. They speak as much about the history of architecture as they do about popular cultural practices in northern France.
Architecture
The remains of L'Excentric Moulins belong to the aesthetic of the 1930s, a fertile period for leisure architecture in France. The influence of Art Deco can be seen in its popular variations: strong geometric shapes, a preoccupation with ornamentation, a search for an immediate and festive visual effect that would signal the venue's recreational vocation from afar. François Reynaert, an artist and decorator by trade, has unmistakably stamped his aesthetic signature on these built elements, giving them a character that is both artisanal and singular. The cashier's office, a small but carefully designed functional building, bears witness to the attention paid to each component of the whole. Its design reflects Reynaert's desire to make each architectural element a piece of décor that is consistent with the overall spirit of the dance hall. The fence, for its part, plays both a practical and a symbolic role: it demarcated the space of pleasure, creating a threshold between the ordinary street and the festive world of the Excentric, while at the same time constituting a strong visual signal in Dunkirk's urban landscape. The precise materiality of these remains is probably in keeping with the regional construction practices of the 1930s, probably combining masonry, rendering and worked metal elements, in keeping with the techniques of a public works contractor concerned with durability as much as aesthetics.
Related Figures
François Reynaert — artiste décorateur, inventeur, entrepreneur de travaux publics, natif de Rosendaël, créateur et directeur de L'Excentric Moulins (1939)Les danseurs et habitués dunkerquois des années 1939-1940, anonymes témoins d'une époque de divertissement populaire à la veille de la guerreLes architectes des services des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription en 1988
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) located?
Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) is located in Dunkerque, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) built?
Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) open to visitors?
Propriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins) is currently closed to visitors.