Atrium Casino is the name of the

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 ...

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

in the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is listed under the relevant legislation as an historical building.

Origins

In 1925 the local

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, Eugène Milliès-Lacroix, proposed the construction of a casino in order to boost the appeal of the town's spa based tourist industry. The

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 ...

architect André Granet, assisted by Roger-Henri Expert was mandated to implement the project. The sponsors and architects were keen that the new casino, built directly after the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

in Paris and shortly before the launch of the SS Normandie, should respect the still challenging

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 ...

trends of the time.

Opening

July 1928 saw the inauguration of first auditorium of this kind in

the department ''The Department'' is a satirical comedy on BBC Radio 4 about a secret organisation with the power to influence every aspect of your life. Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman star as Research Team 32, an eccentric three-man think-t ...

when more the a thousand people attended a performance of Gounod's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

Mireille Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' ...

. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete, and centred on an open-air

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

, which is the basis for its name "

Atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

". The bar is decorated with windows by

Louis Barillet Louis Barillet (1880 – 1948) was a French artist, known for his work in stained glass. Among those with whom he collaborated were Théodore-Gérard Hanssen and Jacques Le Chevallier. His windows may be seen in the church of Notre-Dame-des-M ...

(1880 - 1948), then well known in France for his mastery of Stained glass.

Degradation

The building is part of a larger development that also included the neighbouring Hôtel Splendid. It was acquired by the municipality in 1968. The passage of time proved that the reinforced concrete construction of the 1920s was ill-suited to the oceanic climate of France's western coast, and the casino's structural integrity deteriorated. A succession of half-hearted attempts at remediation failed to return the Atrium Casino to its earlier splendour and, sixty years after its inauguration, its poor condition led to its closure.

Rehabilitation

A more sustained restoration exercise began with the large auditorium, now able to accommodate up to 800 spectators which gained a first historical building listing (subsequently rescinded) in 1986. The sumptuous décor of the ceiling, walls and around the proscenium, engraved on panels of gold and silver stucco, presents people and animals against a floral background. The theatre space has nevertheless been equipped with modern technological features, and is used for a range of shows through the year including dance, drama and concerts. The casino area, subsequently restored, received its

historical building History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

listing in 2000 and was reopened to the public in 2005.

Sources and notes

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Landes (department) Art Deco architecture in France