Pyramids Above the Mediterranean: This Unusual Resort Has Become a Mecca for Architecture Fans

As summer temperatures begin to ease, European travellers are heading south. Some are looking for a Mediterranean holiday, while others are coming to see a town that looks as if it escaped from a science-fiction film.

La Grande-Motte, about half an hour by car from Montpellier, has become a destination for admirers of futuristic modernism from the second half of the 20th century. Its apartment blocks and hotels form an unusually coherent architectural ensemble. Several buildings resemble Central American pyramids, a direct reference to the ancient structures that inspired architect Jean Balladur.

The resort emerged during a French government programme in the 1960s and 1970s. New coastal towns, including Gruissan and Port Leucate, were built along the stretch between Perpignan and Montpellier to attract French holidaymakers who traditionally travelled to Spain or the French Riviera. La Grande-Motte became the most distinctive of them.

Balladur designed almost every visible aspect of the town, from its layout and buildings to street furniture, traffic lights, road signs, lamps and even electricity transformers. His aim was a consistent whole. He put pedestrians and cyclists first, creating broad, shaded paths closed to cars, and added extensive greenery. The apartments and holiday homes were designed on a human scale using the golden ratio. The central square, Point Zéro, links the town to the beach and marks the place where construction began. Even the hotel Le Quetzal takes its name from a colourful Central American bird. The result is a retro-futurist resort whose architecture now draws visitors as strongly as its seaside location.