Colonial era
The first phase of urbanization in New Caledonia was intrinsically linked to the military presence. This was particularly the case in Nouméa, whose creation was initiated by Captain Tardy de Montravel. Major earthworks were first carried out to gain land on the sea. Once the site was established, the military drew a geometrical plan with streets intersecting at right angles. Initially rather austere, as shown by the forts around which most of the island's towns were organized, military architecture quickly adapted to the constraints of the climate, while retaining certain European codes, as shown by the large barracks in Nouméa, whose 74-meter long, two-story ashlar arcades and airy galleries are worth admiring. This mixture of genres was pushed to its limits by the all-powerful and infamous Penitentiary Administration. The convicts were put to work to urbanize the island, literally working themselves to death to build the major infrastructures (bridges, roads, port facilities) as well as the administrative buildings, schools and hospitals and even the temples and churches. Many of the convicts were chosen for their skills and know-how. Of the prison itself, there are often only remnants that have been overgrown by nature. The most important site is the Bagne de Nouville. At first, the dwellings were simply made of cob, then the convicts were sent across the island in search of quarries where they discovered the pink stone of Nouville. On the site, which still houses nearly 170 buildings, the remains of a lime kiln and a brick factory (at the height of production, the latter produced up to 80,000 bricks per month) have been found, as well as a vast cell block and a more "administrative" quadrangle. Fort Teremba, a former military post transformed into a penitentiary colony, with its watchtower, its surrounding wall, its vaulted cells, as well as its former wharf for transporting materials; or the logging site of the Bagne de Prony with its loading docks with their rot-proof wooden posts and the remains of stores and buildings made of coral stone, are moving witnesses to a prison system that transformed its prisoners into the "armed wing" of urban planners and architects. Building dimensions, ceiling heights, wall thicknesses and foundations... everything was entirely standardized. But just like the military before it, the Prison Administration borrowed from European codes, while adapting to the climate, drawing the contours of a colonial architecture with buildings that were more sober than in the other overseas territories. The houses of the commanders are the most obvious representatives. The commander's house in La Foa reveals the main characteristics of this architecture: stone and brick foundations with a crawl space with a slatted ceiling to protect against humidity while ensuring ventilation; framework and parquet flooring made of local wood; high ceilings to ensure the ventilation of the rooms; separation of the kitchen from the main body and the presence of a veranda. A style that influenced individual housing throughout the island. The first colonial houses had the simplicity of Creole huts. Small, with painted and corrugated iron roofs and walls made of wooden clins (horizontal planks partially covering each other), these dwellings, often prefabricated, were easy to assemble and to transform, notably thanks to their geometric and symmetrical plan. Very quickly, these small houses became larger and more luxurious, with the addition of verandas decorated with friezes, roofs going from 2 to 4 sides and decorated with corner turrets and a very elaborate decoration with finely cut and chiseled mantling in metal or wood, elegantly curved metal awnings placed above the windows, shutters, small colored cathedral glass panes and metal finials with a sculptural appearance. The garden, for pleasure in the front and for food in the back, is another key feature of these beautiful colonial houses. Nouméa also has some superb examples of "Caldoches villas", sumptuous residences of the French elite, where stone is king, and where European codes are sometimes more visible, notably in the double-flight staircases flanking the facades. The Maison Célières and the Château Hagen are must-sees. At the same time, New Caledonia experienced a religious colonization that saw Catholics and Protestants confront each other in what many described as the "mission war". Crosses, calvaries, statues and Marian grottoes flourished along the roads, while each village had a church or a temple. The churches of the Catholic missions are often characterized by imposing bell towers with geometrical shapes, often red in color contrasting with the whiteness of the walls, like the hexagonal bell tower flanked by 2 round turrets topped by conical roofs of the church of Thio-Mission. With its 56 m x 12 m nave and its facade decorated with statues and flanked by two 25 m high towers, the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Nouméa is impressive. Its vaulted wooden framework resting on 20 pillars set into the wall, its ceiling made of kaori wood planks, its gallery resting on 2 tamanou columns and its lectern made of kohu wood are masterpieces of the forçat craftsmen. The latter have also left their mark on the Old Temple of the city, whose neo-Gothic finery can be admired, with its monumental stone staircase leading to an ogival porch decorated with a rose window, its superb carved wooden doors, its stained glass windows with floral themes, and its cabinetwork with Gothic motifs (lancet, quatrefoil, interlacing...)
Towards modernity
At the turn of the century, astonishing examples of metal architecture appeared, such as the Bernheim Library in Nouméa. Partly installed in the former New Caledonia pavilion of the 1900 Paris World Fair, it has a metal frame designed by Gustave Eiffel. Another beautiful witness of the era is the Passerelle Marguerite, a suspension bridge made of steel and cable-stays, crossing the Foa River. Its 48 m length and 3 m width were first built in France, before being assembled on site in 1909. Concrete became the leading material in the 1920s and 1930s. Nouméa has a few examples of Art Deco which can be recognized by its simple and geometric volumes. But the city is home to some fine examples of a regionalist style that takes advantage of the potential of concrete by coupling it with stone. With their false cement half-timbering, asymmetrical gable roofs covered with red tiles, many of these houses have a resolutely neo-Basque look that was much appreciated by the entrepreneur Jules Mary who had them built, hence their nickname of "Mary Houses"! From the American presence during the Second World War, some amazing buildings remain: the half-moons. Semicircular in shape, these prefabricated structures made of corrugated iron and layers of stainless steel were mounted on metal arches forming the framework. Once the interior panels were connected by clip systems, the exterior panels were placed. This double-walled construction provided better insulation, while the cylinder shape provided little wind resistance and deflected shrapnel. Some of these half-moons could be placed on stone blocks or concrete platforms to avoid humidity. Easy to build and maintain, these structures offered vast volumes and could be expanded infinitely. Motor Pool and Receiving, the two Nouméa neighborhoods that retained their American name, were made up of hundreds of half-moons, as was Nou Island. After the war, the half-moons were used to relocate the population quickly and cheaply, before gradually disappearing. Today, those that remain have been transformed into businesses and even into churches and temples, such as the Church of Saint Joan of Arc in Koumac and the Temple of Montravel. Astonishing! In Nouméa, while the demographic pressure has continued to increase, industrial activities have been reinforced, creating a sectorization of the city that makes inequalities visible. The concrete housing estates are stuck to the vast metallurgical complexes in the North, while hotel complexes, luxury villas and luxury buildings, all with very standardized codes, are emerging in the South in the Val Plaisance or Tina zones. And between the two, the city has seen the development of vast squatter areas. At first, these areas allowed the inhabitants of the HLM to create their own small gardens with sheds, then gradually, the sheds became permanent houses. Places of prayer, common rooms, food gardens, these areas, although basic, still allow a traditional way of life to be maintained. In response to these excesses, the Nouméa municipality launched a vast project in the 2000s aimed at improving the living environment of the inhabitants, while at the same time offering a better welcome to tourists, notably through the redevelopment of the city's northern entrance. Due to poorly thought-out urban planning operations, the city had gradually turned its back on the sea. This is an absurd situation that many architects are working to transform by opening up new perspectives and creating mixed-use areas, such as on the Quai Ferry. A vast 10,000 m2 building with a beautiful openwork wooden facade punctuated with metallic flowers has been built on the Quai Ferry, while restaurants and shops have reoccupied the quays. Another flagship project is the transformation of the Museum of New Caledonia into the MUZ. Led by Caledonian architects, the project proposes an ambitious design with a building that wraps like a snake around the existing building, while the cladding of its facade, made of 24,000 wood and Corten steel scales, is reminiscent of a reptile's skin. In order to enlarge the space, it was necessary to cut down a hundred pine and coconut trees, but these were reused in sculpture and weaving workshops, whose works will be presented in the museum. Opening planned for 2024!
Kanak wealth
Among the Kanaks, the traditional building is the round hut, the most important of which is the Grande Case or Case de la Chefferie, which is built by the whole clan. The first step is to build a mound of earth maintained by a support of superimposed stones on which the central pillar made of rot-proof wood, called rhea, is placed. Posts are then placed in a circle around the central pillar and joined by a lattice of woven reeds. The structure can be up to 9 m in diameter and 12 m high. For the walls of the hut, niaouli or woven coconut leaves are used. The central pillar supports an imposing circular frame. If their size is more modest, the other huts of the tribes or villages have the same beehive shape. They are organized around a central alley generally lined with coconut trees or columnar pines and leading to the Big House. If the traditional materials are nowadays often replaced by cement and corrugated iron, the villages keep this same spatial organization. In this architecture, everything is a symbol. The central pillar shelters the soul of the tribe's ancestors, while each post shelters the spirit of a dead person. To enter, one must both step over the enormous threshold and lower one's head by passing under the lintel, always very low, as a sign of humility. Around the mound are placed sacred stones as well as two poles at the foot of which grow yams, symbol of the father and of summer, and taro, symbol of the mother and of winter. But the two decorative elements that are the object of all the attention remain the ridge arrow and the doorframe. The first is always carved from a single piece of wood. It represents the Elder of the tribe, the totemic ancestor, in an anthropomorphic or geometric way. Its foot is wedged by coconut fiber in a basket surmounting the central pillar, its center is made up of the representation of the ancestor, and its top is made up of a tapered round stem on which conches are threaded. Visible to all, the ridge arrow is the emblem of the clan's power. The doorframes are carved appliques on either side of the entrance to the hut. Faces and numerous geometric motifs (zigzags, stars, ellipses, etc.) can be seen in Lifou, Oua Tom, Bopope and on the Loyalty Islands. The symbolic power of Kanak has also influenced the art and religious architecture on the island. The missionaries quickly understood that they had to integrate Kanak culture into their evangelization project. It is thus not uncommon to see churches no longer topped by a cross but by a ridge spire, while the interiors are more colorful, integrating floral or geometric motifs and giving pride of place to local species. In the Saint-Louis church in Nouméa, the lectern represents a Kanak character, while the tabernacle, in the shape of a hut, is framed by two oblong door frames and topped by a finial spire. The richness of the Kanak heritage has also inspired contemporary architects. On the Tina peninsula, the famous architect Renzo Piano designed the Tjibaou Cultural Center. 10 large wooden and glass huts are aligned along a central alley lined with pine trees and overlooked by other glass and concrete buildings. Around the huts, Kanak dignitaries and landscape architects have imagined a "Kanak path", a sort of initiatory journey through a sumptuous garden. Among the Kanaks, the name of a clan is inseparable from the land where it is rooted, and the Tjibaou clan belongs to the north of the island. It was therefore necessary to obtain the authorization of the clan chief to move the name to Nouméa and organize a customary ceremony to ensure the symbiosis between the cultural center, its name and its land. Another interesting contemporary achievement is the Hienghène town hall, a very beautiful bioclimatic building whose buildings are organized around a central alley and whose structures are a blend of anthracite concrete base reminiscent of the local black rocks and the light Caribbean pine wood frame. One more proof that we can respect tradition while designing a more sustainable future!
