A coveted island
Martinique was for a long time at the heart of conflicts that shaped its coastline, marking it with military defenses. Simple wooden palisades, these structures were perfected under the influence of the French crown and its famous engineer Vauban. Vauban did not build directly on the island, but his disciples applied his great principle: to reconcile the art of fortification with nature. The great forts of the island take advantage of the numerous rocky spurs, true natural fortresses. Each fort has an arsenal, battery, redoubt, polygonal bastions and other ramparts and embankments. Fort Saint-Louis in Fort-de-France is the most famous example. In addition to the forts, the power was also expressed in an urbanism where order and symmetry reigned. It was the advent of the checkerboard plan for the heart of the city, which was organized around key buildings (church, town hall, squares, etc.), as in Fort-de-France or Saint-Pierre, which for a long time was called the “Little Paris of the West Indies”. The remains of the great theater with its wide flights of steps and its very classical peristyle bear witness to the will of the colonial power to instill its urbanistic and architectural precepts.
The West Indian “case”: a whole identity
The origins of the West Indian case (a traditional Creole house or hut) stems from with the Native Americans, the island's first inhabitants. They organized themselves into villages in the center of which the carbet, a large circular hut made of wood and plants, served as a political and religious center, while the ajoupas housed the bedrooms. Lighter constructions housed kitchens and workshops, which proved that functional concern was already very advanced. Ancient housing sites can be seen at Le Vivé (Le Lorrain) and on the beach at Dizac (Diamant). The first settlers were inspired to build their huts, light shelters but perfectly adapted to the constraints of the climate. In the south of the island, notably on the site of the Savane des Esclaves in Trois-Ilets, you can discover the so-called “gaulette”, typical models which date from the beginning of colonization. Their floor is made of beaten earth, their roof is made of cane leaves and their facade is made of woven wooden fences (ti-baume, bamboo, campeachy tree) often coated with a cob made of cow dung or vegetable mud mixed with straw. The case is designed in a modular and functional way. Initially comprising two rooms, they were enlarged according to the needs and means of their inhabitants. Progressively, the cases were given a cemented base that was more resistant to humidity, their roofs - originally made of straw or palm - were made of a local round tile called “tuile-pays” and later of corrugated iron, the raw wood was adorned with bright colors and, in the 19th century, the front of the case was equipped with an open gallery or veranda. Over time, the veranda was transformed into a real living room and became the symbol of the West Indian culture of conviviality and hospitality. Protected from the rain by a large roof, it offers a view on the garden, another key element of the West Indian hut. From the 19th century onwards, the multiplication of individual huts led to the creation of hamlets whose organization was again modelled on that of the Amerindian villages. Grand-Rivière has kept the atmosphere of the villages of yesteryear. In the 20th century, urbanization saw the birth of urban cases called “town houses”. The latter follow the pattern of the rural hut, but as land in town is expensive, the town houses are developed in height, being equipped with one or two floors. The first floor, built in cement to limit the risk of fire, often housed shops and workshops. The upper floors, always made of wood, were more decorative with wrought iron balconies and, above all, shutters and blinds to ensure natural ventilation of the house. Here again, the kitchen is separated from the rest of the house and installed in a backyard. The streets in the center of Fort-de-France, especially rue Blénac, have some fine examples.
The “habitation”: the weight of the past
Typically West Indian, the habitation is a complex structure, both a farm and a pre-industrial building, designed to develop the land for speculative purposes. Sugar, cocoa, tobacco, indigo, coffee and rum were all produced and transformed. From an industrial point of view, these habitations are extremely modern and at the heart of a very studied infrastructure system. It is still possible to see the dykes and slides used to transport water, the stone towers of the windmills with their pivoting roofs and powerful wings, but also the boiler sheds and stills, witnesses of the evolution of techniques. Fields of cane and gardens surround these different elements, while in the center stands the master's house. Initially a simple improved case, the latter developed at the rate of its owners' prosperity and became the symbol of the colonial system. If some houses were based on the architectural styles and principles of the metropolis (strong Norman and Breton influences), the mansions quickly adopted a style adapted to the constraints of the environment. Always built slightly higher up to keep a view of the production units, the mansion was designed to allow perfect ventilation of the house: galleries or verandas lined all sides of the house, the windows were not glazed but openwork and equipped with louvers, and the rooms on the first floor often did not have doors. To protect the house from rain damage, a terracotta tile or flake roof is preferred, often following a French style, while the roof overhangs allow water to drain into mason jars. The floor is often raised and made of superb polychrome paving. The second floor, slightly set back, is called a belvedere and gives pride of place to finely chiseled decorations in wood. This concern for decoration is reflected in the attention paid to the furniture: rocking chairs, beds with columns and large sideboards populate these houses where pomp and circumstance triumph. Reminiscent of the great colonial estates of Louisiana, with which Martinique has long had close ties, the West Indian mansions remain more functional and less ostentatious. A stylistic beauty that should not make us forget that the term “mansion” here does not simply refer to a wealthy bourgeois residence, but rather a structure composed of a master… and his slaves. Long ignored, the heritage linked to slavery is now being brought to light, in particular the “cases-nègres”, groups of cases in a row, all built on the same model and installed below the master's house in order to control it. These cases were often surrounded by gardens, known as servile gardens, allowing the slaves to partially provide for their needs. This rich heritage can be discovered at the Pécoul, Clément, Leyritz, or Anse Latouche habitations, which are among the most beautiful and best preserved on the island.
Religious heritage
Martinique has a very large number of churches. Some of them are directly inspired by European models, such as the church of Le Carbet with its Latin cross plan with three naves and its bell tower enhanced by a spire and a golden bulb, the church of Le Marin with its baroque decoration all in volutes and sinuosities or the astonishing church of Balata, a replica of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre. Others testify to the influence of the sailor-shipbuilders who created numerous carpentry structures in the shape of a hull or an inverted boat hull. But most of them testify to the need to adapt the architecture to the climatic conditions, as shown by the church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité in Ducos with the inclusion in its facade of one of the faces of the bell tower in order to offer a better resistance to the winds. Some steeples will even be separated from the building. This concern culminates with the advent of metallic architecture popularized on the island by architect Henri Picq, to whom we owe the superb and astonishing Saint-Louis cathedral of Fort-de-France. Its nave is entirely supported by metal arches of neo-Gothic inspiration offering a feeling of space and clarity reinforced by the beautiful luminosity emanating from the stained-glass windows. Picq was also responsible for the beautiful Schœlcher Library with its luminous glass dome, as well as for many halls. This role as a center of architectural experimentation continued in the 20th century with the church of Saint-Christophe in Fort-de-France. Built in 1955, it is the symbol of the renewal of sacred art with its use of concrete, its colored paving stones filtering the light and its beautiful semi-circular bell tower.
Developments and outlook
Even before the church of Saint-Christophe, Fort-de-France saw the birth, in the 1930s, of some very fine examples of architectural modernism. The Villa Monplaisir, the work of Louis Caillat, a great representative of modernism in Martinique, impresses by its whiteness and its elementary geometric forms. The Maison Didier, for its part, gives pride of place to Art Deco curves and volumes. The former “La Nationale” building surprises with its portholes and metal railings, directly inspired Streamline Moderne style. Another astonishing feature is that it is organized around a patio, a structure of Moorish heritage, very rare on the island, which can be found in another flagship building, the Maison des Syndicats, with its circular shapes and crown plan. But concrete has not always been associated with modernity of form, as the Prefecture, directly inspired by the Petit Trianon, shows. A mixture that is eclectic to say the least. Subsequently, the island's major cities all underwent a policy of intense concretization with a proliferation of hotels, shopping centers and housing estates, with large complexes replacing individual houses. With its 105.5-meter high Lumina Tower, the Pointe Simon complex somewhat distorts the center of Fort-de-France, even though it was intended to be the lighthouse. But other contemporary projects attempt to integrate more harmoniously with the existing buildings, such as the Kerlys technopole, whose roof curves are reminiscent of those of the Saint-Christophe church. Fortunately, the town has also managed to preserve its rich identity thanks to the renovation campaigns in many districts where Caribbean housing is given pride of place!
