P1010553 Paris XIII Viaduc et port d'Austerlitz reductwk

''Louise-Catherine'' is a former coal

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

that was converted by the architect Le Corbusier into a floating homeless shelter, moored in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It is a registered

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

of the city of Paris. After being unused for years, it was under renovation as a cultural centre when it sank in the aftermath of the flooding of the Seine in early 2018.

History

''Louise-Catherine'' is a flat-bottomed reinforced concrete barge long and wide. This source gives its breadth as 8 metres. It was built in 1915 as ''Liège'' to bring coal from Rouen to Paris during the First World War.

Homeless shelter

In 1929,

Madeleine Zillhardt Madeleine Zillhardt (June 10, 1863 in Saint-Quentin, France – April 16, 1950 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) was a French artist, writer, decorator and painter. Her life and her career are linked to another artist, the German-Swiss painter Loui ...

bought the barge with the profit from reselling a drawing and donated it to the Salvation Army on condition it be renamed ''Louise-Catherine'' after her companion,

Louise Catherine Breslau Louise Catherine Breslau (6 December 1856 – 12 May 1927) was a German-born Swiss painter, who learned drawing to pass the time while bedridden with chronic asthma. She studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris, and exhibited at the salon of ...

, who had died shortly before. A friend of hers and Breslau's, Winnaretta Singer, had it brought from Rouen and commissioned Le Corbusier to design, with Japonese architect Kunio Maekawa its conversion into a 160-bed homeless shelter. He created three dormitories, dining rooms, toilet facilities including showers, quarters for a boatsman and the shelter director, and a hanging garden on the former

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. He installed square windows and thin columns and designed the furniture, including cupboards with sliding doors. Le Corbusier wrote that the intention was for the barge to be moored in front of the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in winter as a homeless shelter, and in summer to be used as a floating children's camp, further upstream at the

Pont des Arts The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the central square (''cour carrée'') of the Palais du Louvre, (which had been termed the "Palais des Ar ...

. Its use was suspended during the Second World War, and in 1950 it was repurposed to house ex-prisoners and discharged hospital patients as well as the homeless.

Renovation and sinking

The Salvation Army closed the shelter in 1994 after the hull flooded. In 2006 they sold the barge to the Kertekian family and two other benefactors; the Association Louise-Catherine, headed by architect Michel Cantal-Dupart, was formed to renovate it into a museum and cultural centre with financial assistance from the

Fondation Le Corbusier Fondation Le Corbusier is a private foundation and archive honoring the work of architect Le Corbusier. It operates Maison La Roche, a museum located in the 16th arrondissement at 8-10, square du Dr Blanche, Paris, France, which is open daily excep ...

and the French state. It was designated a Paris historical monument by the

Direction régionale des affaires culturelles The Direction régionale des Affaires culturelles (DRAC, Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs) is a service of the French Minister of Culture in each region of France. Created by Minister of Culture André Malraux on February 23, 1963, they a ...

in 2008; now moored near the Gare d'Austerlitz, it is the only watercraft in the city to be registered as a monument. During renovation by the architecture firm ACYC, the barge was to be enclosed in a temporary metal structure designed by the Japanese architect Shuhei Endo. There are plans to build two gangplanks for access modelled on those originally installed. When the level of the Seine dropped after the January 2018 flood, ''Louise-Catherine''s bow caught on the lip of the wharf and on 8 February, despite efforts to free it so she could right herself, the barge took on water and sank rapidly. The fire service brought in a pusher to assist and the wave created when she hit the water may have hastened her sinking. Once the water level returns to normal, the Association planned to have her inspected by divers and refloated and, if possible, to complete the renovation in time to open the exhibition space to the public in October 2018, with an exhibit of work by Japanese architects "passionate about this story and the work of Le Corbusier", as a celebration of 160 years of Franco-Japanese friendship. Donations may be sought to help with raising the barge.

History

Homeless shelter

Renovation and sinking

References

Further reading