Draft:Mouche Slaughterhouse

The Mouche Slaughterhouse and Cattle Market is a former industrial complex located in the former Mouche district of Lyon (now Gerland), designed by Tony Garnier. At the request of the authorities at the end of the 19th century, design work began in 1906 and construction was completed in 1928. The slaughterhouse was a model in France for a rational and hygienic facility for this business. Only the Tony Garnier Hall remains on the site, which was closed in 1977.

The previous slaughterhouses in Lyon
In the 19th century, before the Mouche Slaughterhouse, Lyon had another two slaughterhouses. One opened in 1839 in the Perrache district, and the other was built in 1858 by Tony Desjardins in Vaise. These slaughterhouses were criticized as being too small, inconvenient, and too close to the houses. In the end, the Perrache slaughterhouse were closed for sanitary reasons.

Background
In 1887, the city's elite began to consider the construction of a much larger and more remote site that would meet all the criteria of a modern, hygienic structure. However, the city government was opposed both by the managers of the existing slaughterhouses as well as by the many artisans who benefited from the slaughterhouses in their respective neighborhoods.

In 1892, when the leases expired, the City Council took over the management of the two slaughterhouses and immediately resumed studying how to create a new complex in the Mouche district. However, opposition slowed things down, and it was Mayor Victor Augagneur who got the project moving. He obtained a prefectural decree that definitively established the future slaughterhouse in the Mouche district.

In 1906, Tony Garnier also visited the site under the leadership of new mayor, Édouard Herriot, who had replaced V. Augagneur.

Project
The site of La Colombière, in the Mouche district of Gerland, was selected in 1901 and was the subject of a declaration of public utility in 1903. The area had access to the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railroad network.

Édouard Herriot, in consultation with Eugène Deruelle, head veterinarian of the municipal services and technical director of the Park of the Golden Head, asked Tony Garnier to draw up the floor plans. In 1905, Deruelle took charge of the city's vaccination and slaughterhouse department.

On October 5, 1908, the final design for the Mouche Slaughterhouse was approved. On June 30, 1906, Tony Garnier was appointed architect by the city government.

First construction site
The flooding of the site, which was raised by three meters over the entire 23-hectare area, was one of the technical concerns. Anticipating all actions to rationalize the tasks of the various participants and, above all, their movements, Tony Garnier created an immense complex. He designed a large cattle market of 80 x 210 meters in a 17,000 square-meter hall with a "bold" steel structure of the Fives-Lille type on ball and socket joints developed by Victor Contamin. This structure does not rest on columns. The place had refrigeration rooms, slaughter rooms, a restaurant, and a garage. A dedicated station served all of them with six unloading platforms. With a single direction of circulation, all the handling operations are on the same level.

Although Tony Garnier had originally planned to use concrete for all the structures, he opted for a steel truss structure for the roof of the main hall, which was the dominant feature of the rest of the project. Since the second half of the 19th century, this structure has been used for halls and railway stations (Polonceau truss). It is associated with the transparency of glass for the halls, which was becoming a common product at the time of this construction. Apart from this structure, the overall architecture is that of the classical roof terrace, a personal vision of Garnier's, which was used for all the other buildings.

The roof of the main hall is made of reinforced tiles, while the slabs and stepped pediments are made of clinker and cover the concrete foundations. Work began in 1909 and was completed in 1914.

The International Exhibition of 1914
In 1914, the site was the venue for the International Urban Exposition, whose theme was "The Modern City and Hygiene". The exposition covered an area of 75 hectares, with more than 17,000 square meters dedicated to foreign and colonial pavilions. A total of 17,232 companies presented their economic and industrial activities. The automobile and transport, lighting, metallurgy, and heating sections were located in the Great Hall. The silk and clothing sections were located on the public avenue. The slaughterhouse under construction was visited by one million people. From August 1, the number of visitors decreased, and on August 6, the German and Austrian pavilions were closed, the goods of the enemy nations were confiscated, and the exhibition was finally closed on November 11, 1914, after the outbreak of WWI.

World War I
During the World War I, the site was requisitioned and named the Arsenal de la Mouche. Initially, repatriated wounded were housed in the halls of the Mouche Slaughterhouse. The Electric Lighting Company moved (a Parisian company) to Lyon and was transformed into an armaments factory as part of the war effort. 12,000 men and women were employed at the plant, which produced 20,000 shells a day for shipment to the front.

Slaughterhouse and cattle market
The resumption of the construction work was in 1924 and the inauguration of the slaughterhouse and market was on September 9, 1928. The area was 240,000 square meters. The market accommodated 4,000 cattle, 8,000 sheep, and 3,500 pigs.

Historically in France, the health responsibilities of local authorities have led to the management of a slaughterhouse on land belonging to the municipality, which another company can take over; the whole operation is budgeted with the taxes collected. The slaughterhouse complex is an economic entity of great importance at a time when meat consumption is rising sharply. Thanks to rapid rail transportation, affects the established structure of meat animal production and thus expands the regional scale.Based on the Chicago Slaughterhouse, the Mouche industrial complex distinguishes two businesses: slaughter and trade. Associated with the slaughterhouse was a leather and gut business in the Gerland district, with outlets for leather goods, tennis racket strings, and surgical ligatures. In 1966, national legislation placed this activity under the jurisdiction of the Grand-Lyon. Cattle traders, butchers, charcutiers, and tripe butchers worked here until 1967 when the slaughterhouse was moved to Corbas. In the last period, this know-how was divided among 57 companies of the new non-local economic structure: the Régie Cibieval (created in 1975). In 1967, the Gerland buildings were abandoned.

Historic Monument
In 1975, a strong media campaign drew attention to the possible destruction of the work of Tony Garnier. The Halle and its pavilions at the Mouche Slaughterhouse were listed as historical monuments in Lyon. Although protected, the Halle was abandoned and unused for years.

Renaissance in concert halls
In 1987, before any official decision had been made on the use of the building, the City of Lyon decided to commission the architects Reichen & Robert to restore it.

The work was colossal: repairing the floor, creating basements for technical rooms, and creating technical columns for modular spaces. The architectural structure is enhanced by Eiffel Tower-style lighting on the metal arches. In compliance with current safety standards, the hall has a seating capacity of 4,416 to 5,496 and a total capacity of 17,000.

The renovated hall, known as the "Halle Tony-Garnier", became Lyon's official cultural venue in December 1988. It is the venue for a wide range of events: film shoots, concerts, trade fairs, and conventions. Its first concerts (Mylène Farmer and Paul McCartney) brought it international attention. At the time, it was the second-largest concert hall in France. Its eclectic programming (Telethon, Festival Berlioz, Festival Lumière, concerts by French and international artists) and its geographical location made it popular. In 2000, the venue's modularity, soundproofing, technical aisles, and retractable seating were optimized by the architect Albert Constantin's Atelier de la Rize. These improvements made it possible to modernize the lighting and to perfect its use as an auditorium.

When the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon organized the first European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Lyon in 1997, the reputation of the concert and exhibition hall was established. Since 1991, this biennial has been associated with several European film and dance biennials. In 2019, the exhibition "The Hall, a Stage Beast", organized in partnership with the Lyon City Archives, coincided with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Tony Garnier.