Chapelle Perret, chapel located in Val-de-Marne, in France
Chapelle Perret occupies the upper floor of a hall at 52 avenue Laplace in Arcueil, reached by a staircase that continues up to the tribune. Auguste and Gustave Perret built it in 1927–1929 on a tight budget: hollow-brick walls with reinforced concrete columns and beams, a plain rectangular plan. Inside, a concrete grid frames the walls, and a tall grille of square and circular openings with pale yellow glass stands behind a plain cross above the altar.
The chapel was commissioned by Franciscan sisters of the Immaculate Conception who operated a nearby orphanage and was recognized as a historic monument in 1999. Its construction between 1927 and 1929 marked an innovative use of reinforced concrete for religious architecture in France.
The chapel belonged to the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who ran the orphanage of the Petites-Filles-Pauvres d'Arcueil. It now belongs to the Congregation of the Pallottine Brothers. The liturgical furnishings were made in 2002 by artist Jean-François Ferraton: a glass altar, an ambo, a lectern door with a dove, choir seats, a tabernacle door and a glass cross.
The chapel is located at Avenue Laplace in Arcueil, with the RER B station Laplace nearby, making it easily accessible by public transport. Visits are typically possible during Heritage Days when many historical buildings open to the public.
The chapel's colored glass windows cast blue light throughout the interior in an unusual way for a religious building of this period. The abstract window designs catch and diffuse light gently, differing distinctly from traditional religious stained glass and creating a contemplative effect through color rather than imagery.
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