City Hall

Architecture - Vieux-Habitants

Replacing the building formerly located near the chapel of Beausoleil, this city hall was designed in 1966 by the departmental architect Gérard-Michel Corbin who adopted a style breaking with the other buildings of the town. Concrete construction, L-shaped plan, ground floor largely ventilated by shutters, open gallery upstairs. Born in Fort de France in 1905 to Guadeloupean parents, Gérard Michel Corbin, a graduate of the Special School of Public Works in Paris (architecture section) practiced in the service of Bridges and Roads and collaborated with Ali Tur, architect of the Ministry of the colonies. Between 1930 and 1945, then architect voyer (exercising missions of advice, control, evaluation, programming, studies, design and project management), he was entrusted with operations for many municipalities of Guadeloupe. Responsible for writing all plans, specifications, his field of action was extensive: municipal roads, city buildings and the regulation of private construction. He was in charge of paving, promenades, canals and aqueducts, fountains and public lighting. Until 1975, the year of his death, he carried out numerous public projects (colleges, town halls, Raizet airport and private projects (villas and apartment buildings). He was the initiator of creation of the Order of architects Antilles-Guyane of which he was president until 1965.