URL originale : https://books.openedition.org/inha/12787
The Hennebique agency archive collection
Le fonds d’archives de l’agence Hennebique
p. 199-200
Texte intégral
Figure 1 : Hennebique main office, Paris (1899-1900), Édouard Arnaud, arch.; Roquerbe et Compagnie, cont.: The archives

Source : Fonds Hennebique. CNAM/SIAF/CAPA/Archives d’architecture du XXe siècle/2012
1From 1967, the Hennebique archive collection was conserved at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Paris). In 1989, it was deposited with the archives of the Institut Français d’Architecture.1
2Although incomplete (estimated at 50,000 files among the 150,000 dealt with by the agency between 1898 and 1967), this archive is nevertheless the largest collection of documents existing in France on the history of construction with reinforced concrete (with that of the Pelnard-Considère et Caquot design office conserved at the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail in Roubaix). It consists of 400 linear meters of case files, 10 linear metres of agency documents, 6500 photographs, and almost every issue of the journal Le Béton armé (1898-1939).2
3The design files make up the main body of the collection and are spread over a period going from 1892 to 1939. Of varying size (in terms of volume and contents), each file was assigned an order number (numéro d’affaire) corresponding to that of the series in the main office. The files contain written documents (correspondence, calculations, quantity sheets, and “breakdown and use of bars” sheets (making it possible to order materials). In certain cases, there are also explanatory estimates, specifications, contract award announcements, etc., technical diagrams (drawings and tracings of armature plans, structure plans, diagrams of reinforcing bars), and architectural plans (architects’ or contractors’ drawings).
4The photographs concern implementation and construction sites. They were sent by agents and licensees to be published in Le Béton armé and in sales brochures, or for exhibition. At Hennebique’s head office,3 they were cleaned and sometimes even retouched to match the company’s brand image. Through photography, the design office re-occupied the site, and reappropriated the work, without actually carrying it out. From a difficult-to-master corpus consisting of built structures, Hennebique succeeded in forging an identity, something its competitors seem to have lacked.
5The majority of the archives are in good condition. Currently, each document is being referenced, assigned a catalogue number, and filed according to a method which differs from Hennebique’s original filing system. This consisted of a typological division with two hierarchical levels: six large categories (housing, public buildings, industrial buildings, civil engineering works, silos and reservoirs, and trials), subdivided into 32 subcategories of structures. In the folder for each subcategory, archivists at the head office filed the photos. All the elements of this catalogue have survived, providing much useful information: indications of place, techniques, dates, people’s names, etc.
6The processing of the design files, begun in 2005, will continue until 2016. To date, more than two thirds of the files in the collection have been made accessible.4
7The processing of the photographs began in 1994 and was finished in 2000. 300 prints were digitized; the complete digitization of the rest of the photographs is still planned.
Notes de bas de page
1 Now known as the Centre d’Archives d’Architecture du XXe Siècle of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (Paris).
2 Since 2011, all issues of Le Béton armé have been accessible in digital format on the document portal of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, thanks to a partnership with the University Library of Ghent.
3 From 1902 to 1967, the head office of the Hennebique company was at 1 rue Danton in Paris.
4 The entire archive is downloadable. It can be accessed via the online database Archiwebture: https://archiwebture.citedelarchitecture.fr/
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