A new urban design in the Beauregard district
Two new murals now adorn two gables on the group of houses in Loire Habitat. Colourful street-art works created by CitéCréation, in partnership with Forez Colors, the collective that had already created the design for the emblematic Tower 19 in 2018.
Claude-Monet, VincentVan-Gogh, Paul-Cézanne, Maurice-Utrillo, Henri Matisse… Most of the streets in the Beauregard district are named after illustrious painters. Nowadays, it’s time for modernity and street-art. Beauregard, which has nearly three thousand inhabitants, remains more than ever the district of artists.
From the heart of the town to the intimate murals
The social landlord Loire Habitat left it to the Oullins company in the Rhône, CitéCréation, world leader in monumental mural design, to create these giant walls paintings in record time of two months from November to December. In sometimes difficult climatic conditions, the artists were supported in their work by a few members of the Forez Colors collective, who also carried out the “Beaureg’Art” project in 2018.
On the first work that can be discovered right next to the Spar store in the shopping centre, passers-by can have fun taking a close look at the decorative elements representing the Heart of the City. These include the music school, characters from the Most Beautiful Market in France, the Fourme from Montbrison, the town’s medieval heritage, basketball, and the flora and fauna present in the region.
The tower of Beauregard demolished at the end of the year
A few GéGé dolls are hiding all over the 130 m2 fresco, taking part in the actions of the characters.
A little further up, rue Auguste-Renoir, the wall of another building bar has been decorated in the manner of a comic strip. You can see the Beauregard tower which will be demolished from the end of the year. “We drew it with pages, like an open book, like a page that turns,” says Halim Bensaïd, director of CitéCréation. You can also see a tightrope walker, in reference to the arrival of the famous Henry’s in the 1970s, the sports practised in Montbrison, the shopping centre and its forecourt, animals, plants and trees of the region, etc.
At the launch of these two murals in mid-October, Christophe Bazile, mayor of Montbrison, and Laurent Gagnaire, director of Loire Habitat, said they were convinced of one thing: “These works of urban art can encourage all Montbrison residents to come to Beauregard to discover them”. (Le Progrès – Pierre Guillt).
– Some dates:
1971: Start of construction on the neighborhood. The space was occupied by a few houses surrounded mainly by vineyards.
1973: Completion of construction of 434 HLM units, and construction of new co-operative home ownership units (COGECOP).
1975: Opening of the Beauregard Hospital, now the Forez Hospital Center.
1977: Installation of sports and school equipment.
1978: Beginning of the construction of the new gendarmerie barracks, inaugurated in 1980 by Yvon Bourges, Minister of Defence.
2003: Creation of murals, Paul-Cézanne room by Millie Mage and her team.
2006: An educational project led by Véronique Peytour has led to the creation of a 32-metre-long fresco on the walls of the boiler room of the low-rent towers.
2013: The Voile property, a former bourgeois house is converted into a public garden.
2018: Success of Beaureg’Art led by Forez Colors: several graffiti artists decorated the exterior and apartments of Tower 19, destined for demolition from the end of the year.
