Maurice Durand (December 6, 1884 – February, 1978) was a French

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was active in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

department, primarily in the area around

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administ ...

, and many of his buildings may still be seen in that area today. Durand was born in Les Sables d'Olonne, and began his career there in 1913, when he designed a number of buildings in town, including the

Villa Mirasol ''For the historic building in France, see Villa Mirasol (Les Sables d'Olonne).'' Villa Miraso is a village and rural locality (municipality) in La Pampa Province in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, ...

and the Villa Blanche. He was accepted into the architectural academy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1920; the following year he was named city architect in his hometown. In 1930 he was made the Architect of Historic Monuments for the Vendée department. He was awarded the

Légion d’Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

in 1935, and became departmental architect in 1937. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Durand was active in designing buildings around Les Sables d'Olonne; among the most notable were the Rudelière

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

, the church of Saint Peter, the "Notre-Dame de France" clinic, and a number of

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s. Some of his most important civic work was done after the war, in the aftermath of the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

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troops had destroyed many

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s along the French coast as part of their retreat in 1944, and many lighthouses had to be reconstructed in the decade after the war. Durand was charged with designing three: * Île d'Yeu Lighthouse, completed in 1950 * Pointe des Corbeaux Lighthouse, completed in 1950 * Pointe du Grouin du Cou Lighthouse, completed in 1958 In addition, Durand was responsible for the design of L'Armendèche Lighthouse, completed in 1968 as a landfall light for Les Sables d'Olonne. The four were built in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style; notably, each tower was designed as a unique building, different from the others in the series. Durand was active throughout the 1950s and 1960s, continuing to design buildings for his hometown. He oversaw the renovation of the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, the Grand Casino, the place du Tribunal, and the Caisse d’Épargne, and participated in the restoration of the Abbey of Sainte-Croix. At the start of the 1970s, he was involved in one more restoration project, the work on the church of Saint Nicholas in La Chaume. Durand died in Les Sables-d’Olonne in February 1978. Today a pavilion in the town is named in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durand, Maurice 1884 births 1978 deaths People from Les Sables-d'Olonne 20th-century French architects Lighthouse builders Recipients of the Legion of Honour