The Hôtel de Ville anchors the eastern end of Avenue Foch and marks the heart of Perret's rebuilt city. The building is one of the largest post-war public buildings in France, its central tower rising 72 metres and flanked by long wings of concrete with Perret's characteristic fluted columns. The square in front — Place de l'Hôtel de Ville — is enormous, designed as a civic gathering place of the kind that modernist planners believed cities needed.
The interior is worth a look if it is open: the main hall has a monumental staircase and the kind of confident civic optimism that characterised the immediate post-war era. The tourist office is located nearby in a Perret-era building on the same square and runs guided walking tours of the UNESCO district — a good investment of an hour or two.
Address: Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, 76000 Le Havre.