Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The villa of Pierre Soulages, located on the slopes of Mont-Saint-Clair in Sète, is designed to integrate harmoniously with its Mediterranean environment. Located between the Marine Cemetery and the Paul Valéry Museum, it enjoys a stunning sea view, masked by a pine forest of parasol pines and surrounded by a raw stone wall. Its architecture, inspired by modern movement, is characterized by geometric volumes of raw concrete, flat roofs covered with pebbles, and large bay windows opening to light and landscape. The structure, composed of three parallel planes, separates the dwelling (133 m2) from the workshop (65 m2), connected by a covered passage. The sober materials – concrete, glass, slate – and minimalist furniture, mainly grey, white and black, reinforce the effect of transparency and fusion with nature.

The villa replaces an old house shaved for the occasion, built in elevation with a door-to-door terrace overlooking a pool below. Its reinforced concrete roof terrace, covered with pebbles, also serves as a sunbreaker, while screen walls protect from winds and hide unwanted views. Inside, the black slate floors extend outwards, accentuating the continuity between interior and exterior space. The living room, initially devoid of wall decoration, is now home to the outdoor canvases of Soulages, while a built-in fireplace animates space. Designed between 1959 and 1960, the villa is the subject of a controversy over its fatherhood: architect Jean Rouzaud, who signed the plans, claims his work, while Pierre Soulages s'en attributes the design, inspired in particular by the architecture of Mies van der Rohe, whom he discovered during his stay in the United States in 1957.

Construction, licensed on October 26, 1959 and granted on December 16, 1959, is likely to be completed in 1960. The project envisages the partial demolition of an existing house and the building of a complex comprising workshop, rooms and living spaces, with a possible reuse of old foundations to benefit from a reconstruction bonus. The villa, invisible from the street and discreet from the sea, embodies a search for harmony between art, architecture and nature, reflecting the minimalist and functional aspirations of its designers. Classified as a Historic Monument in 2019, it reflects the influence of international modernism in southern France, while remaining rooted in its local context, linked to the family history of Colette Soulages, originally from Sète.

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