Rationality, Sensation, and Visionary Architects- Week 9

Marc-Antoine Laugier

Promoted the rational idea of the "primitive hut" as the essence of architecture in book “Essai sur l'Architecture” (1753); considered a rationalist/sensationalist

Jacques-Germain Soufflot

Debated the measurement of buildings, favoring empirical geometrical rules over infallible mathematical formulas; considered a rationalist/sensationalist

Jacques-Germain Soufflot Building

Saint Genevieve (The French Pantheon) in Paris

Jacques-François Blondel

Authored the first universal encyclopedic work on architecture “Cours d'architecture” (1777); introduced the radical concept that "style" must relate to a building's purpose; considered a rationalist/sensationalist

Jacques-François Blondel Building

The French Hôtel, a grand private urban mansion for the aristocracy featuring symmetry and neoclassical elegance

Nicolas Le Camus de Mezieres

Wrote “The Genius of Architecture, or the Analogy of that Art with Our Sensation” (1780) which emphasized the "character" of architecture and the primacy of "feeling" and "sensation" & harmony is only accessible to the genius; considered a rationalist/sensationalist

Jean-Francois de Bastide

Explored the eroticism and seduction of distributed architectural spaces in La Petite Maison (The Little House), 1758; considered a rationalist/sensationalist

Etienne Louis Boullée

Studied essential geometrical bodies (circles, triangles, squares) and used dim, veiled light to create magical atmospheres in “Essai sur l'art” (1788); visionary architect

Etienne Louis Boullée Buildings

known for Newton's Cenotaph (representing finitude and infinitude), the Pyramid Cenotaph, the National Library, and the Truncated Tower

Claude Nicolas Ledoux

Focused on "proper physiognomy" (the building's "face") and envisioned utopian cities that honored human tastes in “L'architecture considérée sous le rapport de l'art, des moeurs et de la legislation” (Architecture considered in relation to art, morals and legislation); visionary architect

Claude Nicolas Ledoux Building

The Ideal City of Chaux (including the Cemetery, House of Education, and Woodcutter's House), the Paris Gates (barriers), Pavillon de Musique, and the Theatre de Besancon

Jean Jacques Lequeu

Known for architectural absurdity, erotic symbolic orders, and metaphorical designs; visionary architect

Jean Jacques Lequeu Building

The Cow Bower, Temples of Nature and Divination, and symbolic bedchambers

Edmund Burke

Philosopher who defined the Sublime (1757), arguing that darkness is more productive of sublime ideas than light; visionary architect