Zamek w Gaillon - problemy konserwatorskie związane z jego adaptacją dla współczesności

• Authors: Wilczkiewicz Małgorzata

Title variants

EN

THE CASTLE IN GAILLON - CONSERVATION PROBLEMS OF AN ADAPTATION TO MODERN TIMES

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The castle is located in the town of Gaillon (Haute Normandie), some 150 kms from Paris. It was built about 1500 in the Renaissance style and has survived up to our times in a greatly devastated condition. The complex of buildings was concentrated around a courtyard with a unique entrance pavilion, distinct for its high, characteristic roof. The chateau possesses a magnificent iconography. Up to 1945 it was privately owned, a fact which contributed to its decline and ultimate abandonment. At the moment of inaugurating conservation work, the complex was completely ruined. Preservation undertakings were initiated and a first project for conservation was made. An important element of the operation which is an excellent illustration of the manner in which French specialists approach architectonic conservation, was the reconstruction of the entrance pavilion. As a result of an unfortunate nineteenthcentury attempt, the pavilion lost its characteristic slatecovered roof. The original state was well known from iconographie material which the architect Georges Duval used to propose a complete reconstruction. The latter was realised from 1985 to 1986 and the pavilion regained its typical silhouette from the 1509-1510 period. We can see how this decision improved the proportions and external aesthetics of the building by comparing a photograph of the existing state with a plan for a new type of roof, executed in accordance with the appearance from 1510. The above example makes it possible to observe the principle applied by conservators of architecture in France as regards the supplementation of certain elements or totally destroyed objects. Extant iconography enables the recreation of the original state of the old form and encourages to embark upon complete reconstruction (based on a precise recapturing of the form) with a simultaneous introduction of modern constructions. All the objects of the castle were to receive a roof, temporary or permanent. Calculations made by historians of architecture demonstrated that an area of some 6 000 sq. meters would be involved in the future. It is the intention of the present conservator, architect Benjamin Mouton, for the castle to resemble the building shown in numerous sixteenth-century iconographie sources. One of the stages towards putting the castle into complete order is a plan for the main entrance with the square — scenic balcony — the „Esplanade" — in which the author of the article participated. She suggested arranging the terrain in a new architectonic form, but one which would be strictly subjected to the dominating role of the castle, and which would utilise all extant elements. This proposal remains in accordance with the tendency employed in conservation praxis in France which observes the principle: „To conserve also means to create". The author of the article was responsible for the first stage of the project, connected with shifting the earth, forming the enscarpments and changing the direction of the existing driveway. An analysis of the strata of the slope suggested a change of the location of the driveway, by recognizing it as a secondary element which destroys the strata of the enscarpment. In a reconstruction of squares and historical roads especially in a differentiated terrain, it is extremely significant to strive towards the recreation of the original pattern of the strata (which, as a rule, is devastated by secondary footpaths and highways that appeared in an uncontrolled manner) in order to regain the correct shape of the slope (hillock, enscarpment).

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1993
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 68-73

Dates

published

1993

Contributors

author

Wilczkiewicz Małgorzata

• mgr inż. arch.

References

• E lis a b e th C h iro l, Château Gaillon, Paris 1952.
• Y v e s L e s c ro a rt, B e n jam in M o u to n , Château Gaillon, "Monuments Historiques - Haute Normandie" - Nr 165 septembre - octobre 1989.
• B e n jam in M o u to n , Si Gaillon vous était conte... „Gaillon" - Nr 18 vendredi 8 novembre 1991.

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247