Si Lorientais et pourtant si Français… Les lycées de la Reconstruction à Lorient

The history of the three Secondary Schools in post-war Lorient, currently named Dupuy-de-Lôme, Colbert and Marie-Le-Franc must be seen in the particular context of the reconstruction of a city entirely destroyed by the bombings of World War II. First it provides evidence of the role and importance placed on secondary education in the design and planning of post-war Lorient. It offers an insight into urbanism and the architecture employed at the time, together with investment in industry as a catalyst for economic growth. The period also saw the implementation of a specific 1% allocation to the Arts and other organisations. One of the most notable results being the construction of a chapel in a “laïque” (secular) school in 1966. It provoked also an interesting debate on urbanism, architecture, and arts in post-war Lorient and allows us to examine the expressed views of certain sectors of the population directly affected by such radical changes. In each of these subjects, the history of the three schools falls within both a local and a national context