Initial construction 1932-1933 (≈ 1933)
Built by André Lurçat for the Communist City Hall.
1934
Completion of the gym
Completion of the gym 1934 (≈ 1934)
Integrate underground road to school.
1945
Expansion of the complex
Expansion of the complex 1945 (≈ 1945)
Post-Second World War extension.
15 janvier 1975
First protection
First protection 15 janvier 1975 (≈ 1975)
Registration for historical monuments.
9 mars 1993
Protection of the gymnasium
Protection of the gymnasium 9 mars 1993 (≈ 1993)
Registration façades and roofs.
31 octobre 1996
Final classification
Final classification 31 octobre 1996 (≈ 1996)
Full site protection.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Facades and roofs of the gymnasium-tribune (Box AT 39): inscription by order of 9 March 1993
Key figures
André Lurçat - Architect
Designer of the school group and gymnasium.
Paul Vaillant-Couturier - Mayor of Villejuif (1929-)
Project sponsor, communist figure.
Origin and history
The Karl-Marx school group, originally called the Jean-Jaurès school group, was built between 1932 and 1933 in Villejuif, Val-de-Marne, under the leadership of the communist mayor Paul Vaillant-Couturier. This project, which emerged from an architectural competition, was designed to create a modern educational complex in an area that was then unoccupied, composed of fields. The architect André Lurçat, inspired by the Bauhaus movement, designed a reinforced concrete building with roof terraces and red metal carpentry, integrating kindergartens and primary schools, a medical practice, accommodation for teachers and a gymnasium-stadium. The site was expanded in 1945 and renamed in tribute to Karl Marx.
The gymnasium-stadium, connected to the school group by an underground route today unusable, is distinguished by its semi-cylinder staircases and long windows. Crude concrete and red metal elements create an architectural unit with the rest of the complex. For safety reasons, the original platform on the terrace was replaced by a new structure west of the stadium. This project was part of the political and social will of the then communist municipality.
Ranked a historic monument in 1996 (after a first inscription in 1975), the Karl-Marx School Group is a major testimony of modern and committed architecture of the 1930s. Since 2006, the Municipal Archives of Villejuif has kept documents relating to its construction, mainly from the 1930s. The site remains a symbol of the educational and urban innovation of the inter-war period, marked by social utopia and architectural experimentation.
