Changements et opportunités dans l’architecture en Indochine pendant la période de Vichy

Abstract

World War Two was a period of extensive changes in architecture in colonial Indochina despite the very trying conditions of the time. This period was marked by the reshaping of architecture’s role in the colony’s politics and by the evolution in architectural practices that anticipated, to a certain extent, postcolonial times. This article explains these transformations by considering two factors: first, the growing strength and diversity of private architects, among whom emerged the first generation of Vietnamese architects trained at the Indochinese School of Fine Art; and second, the particular way which the Vichyite government of Admiral Decoux (1884–1963) then facing a difficult situation, used architecture both to restore French prestige and to increase nationalism among the colonized.