8
More beautiful
Enjoyment
BLACK'S NOT A COLOUR
For many years now, Pierre Grutter has been working as an architect for Heineken France. He runs his
own bureau and so he is not a direct employee. He has helped to bring about the many extensions and
improvements to our breweries in Schiltigheim and Mutzig. He's not only an architect, but is also very
good in his use of colours on his buildings. A talent which is so striking that we decided to turn the
spotlight on him and his colourful buildings.
"You can't let let people work in here!"
That's what Pierre Grutter said to
himself in 1976 when he'd completed
the drawings for the new bottling
department at Schiltigheim. And he
knew for sure he was right as soon as he
saw the vast, unfinished hall before
him. The big grey mass of concrete
was, he felt, not suitable for people
who had come from their comfortable
warm and cosy houses to work
dayshifts or nightshifts on the bottling
machines. He thought that colours,
applied in different patterns, might be
the solution. When the bottling
department was ready and had been
painted according to his instructions,
there was no doubt at allhe was right
"It's thanks to the cooperation of Mr.
Palaz, director of Heineken France,
and Mr. Delizée, technical director,
that I was able to accomplish that first
The chimney of the Heineken France
brewery in Schiltigheim painted in a
highly original way.
project", he says modestly. "If you
want to create something new, your
clients have to give you the chance. I
was lucky in that both those gentlemen
did not hesitate at the time and seized
the opportunity to beautify their
factory buildings. And they still give
me a free hand today, and I'm grateful
to them."
Pierre Grutter explains how much
importance he attaches to creating
pleasant surroundings for working in.
How odd it is to pay attention to safety,
sanitary fittings and soundproofing,
but to forget that the room in which
people have to work must also make
them feel good. Especially when the
decoration costs only amount to less
than one per cent of the total
construction costs.
"I also want to give people a pleasant
turned into one of the best and most
excitingly decorated ones in the
Heineken group.
"Andof coursein my use of colours I
also try to make a thing more
beautiful", says Grutter with feeling.
his work, the fire of the artist breaks
through. You can sense the volcano
within him waiting to erupt with yet
another splash of colours to make
people's lives brighter and more
pleasant. And you don't doubt his
Pierre Grutter, the French architect with a
vision for colours.
He's succeeded, we believe, in doing
that as well. Everywhere you look, you
can see coloured triangles and circles,
stripes and blocks, both inside and
outside his buildings.
Mutzig. The various colours can even make corrugated
iron sheeting look better.
words for one moment when he says:
"I detest black. I shall never use it.
Black's not a colour."
"I never do the same design twice"he
explains. "I may repeat a theme, but
never in exactly the same lines or
colour. Colours do something to me;
it's as if they have something to tell me.
I also have a feeling for the places
where I should use white, or yellow or
another colour. It's a thing you can't put
your finger on. Like the brewer enjoys
his beer, I enjoy the colours I work
with. We only live briefly on this earth
and we ought to make that brief time as
pleasant as possible. Living with
greyness all around you is not pleasant.
You have to show young children how
to look at colours so they will have
respect for them in later years. Then
they won't go daubing paint on walls
when they get older."
Pierre Grutter is a calm, modest and
amiable man, but when he talks about
The chimney in Mutzig.
surprise", he continues. "In Mutzig,
for instance, I applied coloured
patterns everywhere on the stairwell
leading up to the visitors' reception
area on the fourth floor of the brewery.
People look at the decoration and they
forget that they're having to climb up
some stairs." Philippe Rosina, plant
manager at Mutzig, is another client
who can appreciate the great value of
the use of colours. This is one of the
reasons why his brewery has been
A storage tank at Schiltigheim.
The new services building at Schiltigheim. Immense spaces subtly broken by colours.
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