Located at the heart of the city, in the Levant district, the Place des 3 Pouvoirs was named after a square built in Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer, another great twentieth-century architect. Jean Balladur spent time there in 1962, and it inspired him to create a place in La Grande Motte where the 3 powers come together.
The square is, in fact, not square at all but oval-shaped, and around it stand the St. Augustin church, the town hall and the cultural centre. The 3 powers: spiritual, temporal and cultural! The fact that Jean Balladur deliberately saved this spot for the Place at the centre of town shows that he already saw La Grande Motte as more than a seaside resort: he knew it would become a city in its own right.
La Grande Motte belonged to the Mauguio commune at first, but it wasn't long before the town earned its independence.
The commune of La Grande Motte was officially founded on October 1st, 1974, as detailed on the plaque set on the ground at the centre of the square.
Now let's have a look the ground itself. It's made entirely of red and white marble, the same type as the you'll find on the ground all around the city.
Two symbolic colors, the transcription of Yin and Yang, light and darkness, sun and moon, masculine and feminine... In a word, here again is the theme around which Balladur built La Grande Motte: the eternal harmony of complementary opposites.
And the philosophical thread winds ever further... Look around you, look down... the marble slabs mark out a labyrinth. In Jean Balladur's words: It serves to remind the authorities in charge of the importance of a well-chosen path...
Now, take a look at the lamppposts around the square... Don't they remind you of something?
Ummmm... They look like pointy hats?
Exactly. The lampposts are wearing fairy hats [sound effect of a magic wand]. Jean Balladur was hinting that magic can be found right here... in the good fairy, Electricity! And there's also the magic of proportion: one of the great principles of architecture in antiquity - the Golden Ratio, a symbol of harmony within mankind's reach - is applied to the proportion and shapes of the lampposts.
[water flowing from a fountain] On the square, facing the town hall, flows the water of an imposing fountain designed by Jean Balladur himself.
Look closer: the water's gushing from a bunch of mouths!
This symbol stands for the voice of the people on the Agora, engaging in dialogue with the political powers that stand before them.
Or you could interpret all these mouths another way: tongues are loosened here on the main square!
The Place des 3 Pouvoirs reveals all the talent and imagination of the great architect, Jean Balladur. Here, you can see all the uniqueness and architectural originality of La Grande Motte, a city that earned the rarely attributed "Patrimoine du 20ème siècle" (20th century Heritage) label in 2010, across its entirety.