Auguste Perret: 0000 - Hardcover

Britton, Karla

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714840432 ISBN 13: 9780714840437

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2001

Synopsis

French architect Auguste Perret (1874-1954) was a pioneering precursor to the Modern movement. His career is inextricably linked to the constructional technique of reinforced concrete: in works such as his 1903 apartment building in Rue Franklin, Paris, concrete - a material that previously had been perceived as common and industrial - was reinvented, handled artistically and granted its own idiom. Le Corbusier described this building as 'a foretaste of the modern world'.

With his projects in France and abroad - such as the Musée des Travaux Publics in Paris, the Church of Notre-Dame at Raincy and many other domestic, industrial and urban buildings - Perret caught the attention of a generation searching for a new architecture appropriate to the twentieth century. A committed constructor and innovator, Perret simultaneously adhered to structural classicist principles, continuously resisting the more transitory aspects of the avant-garde.

This monograph is the first sustained study of Perret in English, richly illustrated with new colour photography as well as drawings and photographs from the Perret archive. It also includes an appendix of Perret's aphorisms and other writings, which provide a penetrative insight into his craft and its artistic social priciples.

About this title

Review

"Perret emerges as witty, wise and social minded, the deft first user of concrete, justifiably admired by 'Corb'."―Art Newspaper

"[An] erudite exploration of Perret’s output... Britton’s study presents a fascinating, authoritative figure."―RIBA Journal

Synopsis

French architect Auguste Perret (1874-1954) was highly influential in the development of 20th-century architecture. He was one of the first architects to exploit the architectural potential of concrete, a material that previously had been perceived as common and industrial. Works such as the apartment building in Rue Franklin, Paris, and the Church of Notre Dame de Raincy made an impact on Le Corbusier and a generation of Modernist architects, although Perret himself never abandoned a Classical vocabulary. This monograph offers a study of the architect and provides an insight into his many buildings and projects - from small-scale buildings such as houses and artists' studios, to larger-scale civic works such as the Musee des Travaux in Paris, and the urban planning projects undertaken during World War II. It also features an appendix of Perret's writings, including his published work of aphorisms, "Contribution to a Theory of Architecture", plus essays on "Concrete" and "Architecture", which provide an insight into the forces behind his craft and its artistic and social principles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0714840432
• ISBN 13: 9780714840437
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256