Villa Tata Ice
Monument
Villa Tata Ice, located in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.5209, 1.5879
- Mérimée Reference
- PA62000018
A pink villa with bewitching charm, Tata Ice boasts a unique anthropomorphic façade adorned with a mysteriously oriental totem pole - an absolute masterpiece by Art Nouveau architect Horace Pouillet in Le Touquet.
History
In the heart of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, the seaside resort on the Côte d'Opale that was the dream of the European aristocracy and upper middle classes throughout the 20th century, Villa Tata Ice stands like a magnificent anomaly in the architectural landscape. Its powder pink hue, visible between the pine trees and the neat hedges of the neighbouring villas, immediately announces a singular spirit, that of an architect who refused to choose between ornament and function, between the dream of the Orient and the French seaside tradition. What makes Tata Ice truly unique in Le Touquet's heritage - and more broadly in the residential architecture of northern France - is its character as a total work of art. Here, nothing has been left to chance: the villa has been thought through from the outside right down to the smallest interior detail. The sculpted decorations, the custom-designed furniture, the fences and gates with their interwoven plant motifs form a coherent and consistent whole, a unified ornamental grammar that expresses itself in every corner of the property. The centrepiece of the composition is undoubtedly the totem column that structures the main façade. Neither an ordinary pillar nor a simple decorative element, this monolith with its humanoid morphology draws on a repertoire of Far Eastern, Chinese and Japanese images, reflecting the infatuation with Asian art characteristic of the period. Its presence gives the villa a quasi-ritual dimension, as if the residence were placed under the protection of a tutelary figure from elsewhere. To visit Tata Ice is to experience architecture in dialogue with its visitor. The façade seems to observe, to question, almost to smile - hence perhaps the term "anthropomorphic" that is attached to it. Photographers and architecture enthusiasts will find here an inexhaustible source of details to discover: floral motifs, interplay of volumes, controlled asymmetries. The interior of the villa is not open to visitors, but the exterior alone is worth a diversion.
Architecture
Villa Tata Ice is part of the late Art Nouveau style, tinged with oriental exoticism, at a time when this style was beginning to incorporate the more geometric and stylised influences of the emerging Art Deco movement. Horace Pouillet demonstrated a total mastery of ornamental language, applied not only to the main façade but to the entire composition: fences, gates, outdoor furniture and sculpted decor all form part of the same overall vision, constituting what is known in art history as a Gesamtkunstwerk - a total work of art. The most striking element remains the pillar-totem that structures the pink façade. A hybrid of Art Nouveau vocabulary - with its organic forms, stylised faces and references to nature and the human form - and imagery from the Far East (China, Japan), this monolith gives the villa an almost sacred character, a spiritual presence unusual in seaside architecture. The façade as a whole produces a so-called "anthropomorphic" effect: the openings, reliefs and volumes seem to compose a human face or figure, a rare process that testifies to the architect's conceptual audacity. The materials used, typical of buildings in the Touquet region between the wars, probably combine pink rendering - the villa's signature colour - with carefully ornamented carpentry and joinery. The roof, probably slate or tile in accordance with regional practice at the time, completes a silhouette in which each line was designed to reinforce the overall effect sought by Pouillet.
Related Figures
Horace Pouillet — architecte concepteur, figure de l'Art Nouveau régional dans le Nord de la FranceAlphonse Daloz — fondateur du lotissement du Touquet, initiateur du développement de la station balnéaireJohn Whitley — promoteur britannique qui contribua à l'essor international du Touquet-Paris-Plage
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Villa Tata Ice located?
Villa Tata Ice is located in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Villa Tata Ice built?
Villa Tata Ice dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Villa Tata Ice open to visitors?
Villa Tata Ice is currently closed to visitors.