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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Divers
  3. Pays-de-la-Loire
  4. Maine-et-Loire
  5. 49100 Angers

  6. Building of the Compagnie française d'Aviation

Building of the Compagnie française d'Aviation à Angers en Maine-et-Loire

Building of the Compagnie française d'Aviation

    312 Avenue René Gasnier
    49100 Angers
Ownership of a private company; State ownership
Museums of France
Miscellaneous
Photo de Building of the Compagnie française d'Aviation
Crédit photo : photo : Fab5669 ; architecte : Ernest Bricard (187 - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1922
Establishment of the pilot school
1938
Construction of the current building
1940
German occupation
1944
Allied bombardment
23 février 2004
Historical monument classification
2005
Rehabilitation in Architecture House
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The following elements make up the pilot school: its facades and roofs; the interiors of its "hall" (supplied staircase gate of the control tower) , in full ; the two gates of the garden-parking fence on the avenue; the monument to René Gasnier; the garden-parking front (on the avenue) (cad. AI 93, 94): registration by order of 23 February 2004

Key figures

Ernest Bricard - Architect Manufacturer of the building in 1938.
Isidore Odorico - Mosaic Author of the hall decors.
René Guilleux - Sculptor Creator of the flying statue.
René Gasnier - Aviation pioneer Tribute via a monument on site.
Maxime Ketoff - Rehabilitation architect Transformation in 2005.

Origin and history

The building of the Compagnie Française d'Aviation (CFA), built in 1938 by architect Ernest Bricard, embodies the modern architecture of the 1930s. Sponsored to house a private flying school, it combines geometric rigor and aeronautical symbols, such as the central porch adorned with the acronym CFA and a sculpture of an aviator by René Guilléux. Its facades, roofs and entrance hall, decorated with mosaics from Isidore Odorico, have been listed as historical monuments since 2004.

The pilot school, originally installed in barracks in 1922 near the Angers-Segré railway line, moved in 1938 to this prestigious new building, located avenue René Gasnier. Occupied by the German army in 1940 and bombed in 1944, it was abandoned after the war before being saved from demolition in the 1980s thanks to the CAUE in Maine-et-Loire. Rehabilitated in 2005, it now houses the House of Architecture, Territory and Landscape.

The architectural project, selected from several proposals, focuses on a perfect symmetry around a central porch, with two two-storey wings reserved for dormitories and classrooms. Modern materials (armed concrete, bricks, bay windows) and Art Deco decorations, such as mosaics with aerial motifs, underline the innovative vocation of the place. The park-garden and entrance gates, also protected, complete this iconic ensemble.

Several artists marked the building: Isidore Odorico with its tricolor mosaics representing aircraft and pilots' badges, René Guilleux with his concrete sculpture by an aviator, and François Dallegret, whose luminous work interacts with the traffic of the nearby A11. These artistic elements, combined with the turbulent history of the site, make it a unique testimony to the industrial and creative heritage of Angelvin.

Ranked a historic monument in 2004, the site also includes the monument dedicated to René Gasnier, local aviation pioneer, and the original park garden. Its rehabilitation has preserved a rare example of civil aviation architecture in France, while offering it a new cultural and educational vocation.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum