THE HERITAGE SITE

- An everyday monument

The Cité des Électriciens was built by the Compagnie des Mines de Bruay between 1856 and 1861 to house the families of miners working in pit no. 1. The Compagnie des Mines chose great scientists who had made discoveries in electricity to name the streets of the estate: Ampère, Marconi, Volta, Edison, Coulomb, Franklin, Laplace, Faraday, Branly and Gramme, hence its common name ‘Cité des Électriciens’.

It is the oldest surviving mining town in the Pas-de-Calais coalfield. It represents a real turning point in the history of working-class housing. It bears witness to the gradual evolution of workers' housing in the 19th century, and is an exceptional example of the architecture of the first corons.

Listed as a Historic Monument in 2009, the town became one of the five major mining sites in 2012 as part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Bassin Minier as a living, evolving cultural landscape, embodying both the history and the future of the region.

- An exemplary redevelopment for the whole of the coalfield

The Cité des Électriciens has been renovated by Philippe Prost Architects - winner of the Grand Prix National de l'Architecture 2022 - in order to perpetuate its social housing function, offer residences for artists, bed and breakfast accommodation for tourists and spaces for discovering the towns and landscapes of the coalfield. The project was carried out in such a way as to scrupulously respect the pre-existing values of use and to create a contemporary building in terracotta and alder - the Red Pavilion - which recontextualises the architectural ensemble on the site of buildings that no longer exist.

THE CULTURAL PROJECT

Through design, poetry, crafts, literature, the visual arts and the performing arts, the Cité des Électriciens' entire programme offers visitors the chance to experience and imagine new ways of inhabiting the Cité and the world after coal. In this way, hospitality, conviviality, curiosity and openness to others inform every project carried out at the Coron.

- Living for inspiration: gîtes
The Cité des Électriciens is a much sought-after new use for the rehabilitated Coron, offering tourists a chance to appreciate the spirit of the site by providing a temporary ‘home from home’.

This atypical tourist experience was initiated in the context of the development of the tourist destination through an integrated design approach supported by Pas-de-Calais tourisme and accessorised by the Cité team. The important thing here is to take your time. Everyone can access accommodation that meets the highest standards of comfort at a very affordable price. Locally-produced everyday objects, design pieces and works of art chosen for their ability to evoke the culture of the mining basin characterise the 5 gîtes on offer.

Hikers and cyclists travelling the European cultural route of the Via Francigena from London to Brindisi will particularly appreciate staying in the coron for a night or two and taking advantage of the sauna and bicycle shed. More and more French and European tourists, whether solo, with family or friends, or with colleagues who share a professional interest in the spirit of the place, are taking the time for a particularly convivial and inspiring stay at Jacob, Rosalie, Marie-Jeanne, Léon or Chez Alice.

- Living to create: artists' residences
In the heart of the Coron, the Cité des Électriciens offers 3 residences for researchers and artists, who are welcomed for mission, creation and/or dissemination residencies.

The Cité des Électriciens welcomes solo artists, groups, families, etc. It offers technical and financial working conditions to facilitate creation. It provides its residents with the necessary comforts, relieving them of their ordinary constraints, and offers seasonal produce from the gardens, so that they can devote all their time and energy to their projects.

In addition, thanks to its ability to listen, support and create synergies, the Cité des Électriciens mobilises all its networks in terms of expertise and know-how to facilitate the development of projects, whether in terms of research, production or distribution. It should also be noted that the multi-disciplinary nature of its cultural project, the diversity of the subjects it explores and the different timeframes it offers, make the Cité des Électriciens a creative space conducive to many impromptu encounters that are particularly appreciated by researchers and artists.

This approach goes hand in hand with support for the professionalisation of young artists and the development of innovative relationships between artistic creation, society and the social economy, such as with artists from the Fresnoy Studio national des arts contemporains or those identified as part of the Ministry of Culture's Mondes nouveaux programme. This informal creative community makes the Cité a laboratory for experimentation.

- The ‘Post-mining’ network
The Cité des Électriciens experiments and supports research and innovation in the field of re-use. As such, it is a founding member of the ‘Post-mining’ network, along with the Chair in Acclimatising Post-mining Territories at the University of Lille and around twenty international research laboratories.

ACTIVITIES AND ACTIONS
In addition to the first research and creation residencies set up as part of partnerships with regional cultural and scientific operators in the fields of architecture, design, crafts, plastic arts, photography, theatrical writing, literature, etc., the Cité des Électriciens aims to open up its welcome and hospitality policy even wider to the international community, in keeping with the universal value of the heritage ensemble to which it bears witness.

- Mediation (free workshops and guided tours)
The Cité des Électriciens offers themed guided tours for all audiences, including the deaf and hard-of-hearing (LSF tours).
Artistic creation workshops are systematically offered to shed new light on current exhibitions, through a practical approach. These workshops are free of charge.

- The annual Vacances à Gardincour! festival
Celebrating solidarity and creativity
The Cité des Électriciens makes a ritual of throwing a party in May to celebrate the spirit of solidarity between neighbours, creativity and good humour in the face of the supposed gloom of the coalfield. For the duration of a multi-disciplinary and recreational festival, brought together by the guardian figure of Mireille - the giantess who symbolises the importance of women in the life of the mine - the Cité des Électriciens realises a home-grown utopia: the joy of spending holidays with family, friends, neighbours, backyard and garden, in a spirit not devoid of self-mockery. From majorettes and brass bands to artists' residencies and the whole range of amateur practices, makers and creators of all kinds, the Cité des Électriciens brings together the popular traditions, cultural rituals, creative potential and multiculturalism of the Bassin minier. Now the subject of a media partnership with the France Télévision group, this eagerly-awaited annual event validates the narrative and the construction of an inclusive memory of heritage as part of a process of civic reflection in line with the principle of recognising cultural rights.

TERRITORIAL ANCHORING
At the dawn of a civilisation that is trying to decarbonise, the Cité des Électriciens is a unique tourist and cultural tool. An exemplary and inspiring place, both locally and internationally, the rehabilitated coron is intended to contribute to the cultural recognition of the inhabitants of the former mining basin, their ability to reinvent their landscapes and towns, their dynamism, their creativity and their deeply warm temperament. The Cité des Électriciens is involved in a wide range of projects with its many partners, including :

- The Communauté d'Agglomération de Béthune-Bruay, Artois Lys Romane ;
- The town of Bruay-La-Buissière;
- The 5 major emblematic sites of the former mining basin of northern France (9-9 Bis in Oignies, Wallers-Arenberg Creative mine, the historic mining centre of Lewarde, 11/19 in Loos-en-Gohelle);
- The Pas-de-Calais Department;
- The Hauts-de-France Region;
- The French Ministry of Culture and Communication;
- The Post-mining Network;

- L'Association des Centres culturels de rencontre...

*associated member