Abstract

The coastal city Royan was destroyed in 1945 to 85% and was rebuild first of all by Claude Ferret and Louis Simon. The reconstruction of the city contributed significantly the formation of the modernism in the 1950’s. However, this avant-garde image did not express in the first projects, they still where in the continuity of the monumental architecture of the 1930’s. Only the revival of the architectural discourse at the end of the 1940’s led to a profound change in the urban and architectonic planning of the reconstruction, especially the publications of journals about the modern Brazilian architecture. Nowadays, the reconstructed city Royan is an example for the invention for a modern ›coastal style‹, balnéaire modern, which is also called ›1950s style‹ or style 50’. The process of reconstruction of this small resort proves to be an extraordinary object of research about the significance of culture and role models as part of every creative urban and architectural process.

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