Guy Lagneau

Guy Lagneau was born in 1915. He was a pupil and admirer of the architect Auguste Perret, whose later reconstruction of Le Havre (which was devastated during World War II) was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. He participated in setting up the Pavillon of Modern Times for the International Exposition of 1937. As a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, in the Perret-Courtois studio, he designed a hotel at the edge of a lake, with a symmetrical but rhythmic structure of exposed reinforced concrete. This design was published in 1942 in a polemic article written by Michel Roux-Spitz, an opponent of traditionalist architecture. Lagneau played a very active role in the 3rd Perret studio in the 1942–1954 period, following the advice of Le Corbusier.

Lagneau was among the architects who collaborated with Perret on the project to rebuild Le Havre, involved in the northern section. During the summer of 1945, he worked with André Le Donné, André Hermant and José Imbert to prepare the first draft of the new city plan, synthesizing the work of other architects, from which Perret developed the final plan submitted on 26 September 1945.