Les Maisons Bérard

The Bérard houses (20th century)
In addition to simple workers' houses, houses decorated with ceramics and homes with neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau or Art Deco accents, the buildings constructed in Migennes using the Bérard process are particularly noteworthy.

This architect developed an economical and artistic reinforced concrete construction system, for which he registered patents. With this system, any building could be designed using reinforced concrete elements that had previously been cast in cast-iron moulds and mass-produced. The modules fit together and are linked by a system of metal rods passed through ducts into which concrete is poured to hold them together. Keys and ties, visible on the façade, create a distinctive decorative feature, Bérard's signature.
Bérard, a man with a strong social conscience, wanted to make architecture accessible to everyone. He entrusted its artistic prefabrication to a mason and a mosaicist from Migennes. 16 homes, from the most basic to the most opulent, make the town a breeding ground for Edouard Bérard's inventive architecture.

3, 2, 1, go! Follow the tour of the Bérard houses, available from the Migennois Tourist Office and at www.tourisme-migennois.fr!