Église Notre-Dame du Raincy, Modern church in Le Raincy, France
Église Notre-Dame du Raincy is a modern church built entirely of reinforced concrete with thin walls and a central bell tower reaching about 50 meters tall. The rectangular building stretches approximately 56 meters long and about 20 meters wide, with oversized windows allowing natural light to flood the interior.
Architect Auguste Perret designed and constructed this building between 1922 and 1923 using prefabricated reinforced concrete elements, setting a new standard for religious construction. The structure gained official recognition as a historical monument in 1966 due to its groundbreaking design approach.
The interior comes alive through large windows created by Marguerite Huré, whose art transforms how light and color enter the sacred space. These windows show how modern artists reimagined what a church could look like.
The building is easy to spot and explore from the outside, as its concrete form and large windows stand out clearly from surrounding structures. Visiting during daylight hours works best, as natural light through the windows fully reveals the interior space and concrete surfaces.
This was the first complete religious building in France executed entirely in exposed reinforced concrete, without any decorative coverings hiding its structure. The radical approach lets the bare concrete itself become the primary design element, with no ornament masking the material.
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