Friday, June 12, 2009

[paris-lorient]

a slight detour to Lorient on the Morbihan coast in Brittany [and a momentary departure from single-image posting!] for this colossal "primitive" discovery...
such primal-sexual manifestation of a sous-marin sliding into its german-built brutalist concrete "bunker" casing is not so easily chanced upon!

the amount of medieval-thick concrete expanses of this complex is so massive and solid that even as it has no longer served its purpose for decades, it is still much too overwhelming to demolish and discard...


and so it sits, this enormous dirty grey mammoth hulk, for little boys and big men [et moi!] to come and gawk and contemplate its brute design, its forceful genesis, its sinister purpose...
now a benign home to "FLORE", the last remaining submarine to hold the fort, so to speak... but forever on dry land!

[Base de sous-marins de Kéroman, 56100 Lorient...beside the new high-design Cité de la Voile Eric Tabarly, dedicated to the legendary breton sailor Eric TABARLY and his extraordinary sailing legacy]

3 comments:

Adam said...

They're planning to do something with all this though aren't they? It's kind of attractive in its way, even if it does have the nasty link back to the original builders.

PeterParis said...

Incredible, the tons and tons of concrete! Hopefully never to be built again!

Gina V said...

Salut Adam et Peter!
I missed the tour through parts of the complex...it would have been amazing to see the interiors.
I don't think there are any plans to dismantle it for now...and what would they do with all that concrete??...perhaps fill in more waterfront with it!