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François Blondel

 
Architecture and Landscaping: Jacques-François Blondel

(1705–74)

Rouenborn French architect, who was an important teacher, theorist, and writer. He revered French architecture, and especially the work of Gabriel, Mansart, and Perrault. His independent School of Architecture, opened in Paris in 1743, included among its students Boullée, Chambers, Ledoux, and de Wailly. He was appointed Professor at the Académie Royale d'Architecture in 1762, and his lectures and theories were set out in his Cours d'architecture (1771–7), completed by Pierre Patte. His many books included De la Distribution des Maisons de Plaisance et de la Décoration des Édifices en Général (1737–8), the monumental four-volume encylopedia of French buildings, L'Architecture Françoise… (1752–6), and Discours sur la Manière d'étudier l'Architecture (1747), with a later edition of 1754. Among his surviving works are part of the Place des Armes, Metz (1760s), and a screen in Strasbourg Cathedral (c.1767).

Bibliography

  • Blondel & Patte (1771–7)
  • Builder (1980)
  • Eriksen (1974)
  • Gallet (1972a)
  • Hautecœur (1950)
  • Herrmann (1962)
  • E. Kaufmann (1955)
  • Picon (1992)
  • Prost (1860)
  • Rykwert (1980)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

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Columbia Encyclopedia: François Blondel
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Blondel, François (fräNswä' blôNdĕl'), 1617-86, French architect. In 1672 he became director of the Academy of Architecture. Blondel's writings, which exerted great influence, include Cours d'architecture enseigné dans l'Académie royale d'architecture (2 vol., 1675-83) and Nouvelle Manière de fortifier les places (1684). He advocated a strict adherence to a classical and rationalist doctrine of architecture. His nephew, Jacques François Blondel, 1705-74, opened the first French private school of architecture in 1739. As architect to the king he devised plans for the civic beautification of Metz and Strasbourg. He designed the town hall and Place d'Armes at Strasbourg and the west portal of the cathedral at Metz. His published works include L'Architecture française (1752), valuable for its engraved views of buildings that no longer exist, and Cours d'architecture; ou, Traité de la décoration (6 vol., 1771-77).
 
 

 

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Architecture and Landscaping. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Copyright © 1999, 2006 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more