Abstract
The profession of architect was regulated under the Vichy regime with the creation of a corporatist Order in December 1940. From that moment onwards, the French state made public construction part of the National Revolution, proclaiming that all urban development would henceforth fall under its jurisdiction and authority. In this way, the new regime compensated for a profession affected by the pre-war slump and the constraints of the Occupation. Supporting the regime therefore seemed a logical step for a profession largely made up of notables, who understood the importance of architecture and the social role played by builders, and who felt they had the support of the highest levels of government. There were few great names in architecture among the opponents of Vichy.
Given that architects, as a professional group, enthusiastically embraced the new administrative structures put in place between 1941 and 1943, was the purge more severe for them than for other trades, or was their activity considered, according to the doctrine of the public authorities emerging from the Resistance, to be essentially technical and not deserving of serious sanctions?
