La Grande-Motte is a seaside resort near Montpellier, built almost entirely from scratch by the French government during the 1960s and 1970s. The project was intended to transform a marshy, mosquito-heavy coast into a domestic rival to Spain’s increasingly popular beaches. Architect Jean Balladur responded with an entire town of white concrete pyramids, curved apartment blocks and geometric sun screens, drawing inspiration from Mesoamerican temples and his idea of the 21st century
La Grande-Motte
