Étienne-Louis Boullée | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 February 1728 Paris, France |
| Died | 4 February 1799(1799-02-04) (aged 70) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Practice | Neoclassicism |
| Buildings | Hôtel Alexandre |
Étienne-Louis Boullée (French pronunciation:[etjɛnlwibule]; 12 February 1728 – 4 February 1799) was a visionary Frenchneoclassical architect whose work greatly influencedcontemporary architects.
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Born in Paris, he studied underJacques-François Blondel,Jacques-Germain Soufflot,Germain Boffrand andJean-Laurent Le Geay, from whom he learned the mainstream FrenchClassical architecture in the 17th and 18th century and theNeoclassicism that evolved after the mid century. His early designs included a lighthouse with a cryptic "saturation chamber" (possibly a ventilation room). He was elected to theAcadémie Royale d'Architecture in 1762 and became chief architect toFrederick II of Prussia, a largely honorary title. He designed a number of private houses from 1762 to 1778, though most of these no longer exist; notable survivors into the modern era include the Hôtel de Brunoy (demolished in 1930) and theHôtel Alexandre, both in Paris. His work forFrançois Racine de Monville has apparently also vanished but his probable influence on Monville's own architectural works as seen at theDésert de Retz speaks for itself. Together withClaude Nicolas Ledoux, he was one of the most influential figures of Frenchneoclassical architecture.
Boullée made his biggest impact as a teacher and theorist at theÉcole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées between 1778 and 1788, when he developed a distinctive abstract geometric style inspired by Classical forms. His work was characterised by the removal of all unnecessary ornamentation, the inflation of geometric forms to a huge scale, and the repetition of elements such as columns in huge ranges.
For Boullée, regularity, symmetry and variety were the golden rules of architecture.
Boullée promoted the idea of making architecture expressive of its purpose, a doctrine that his detractors termedarchitecture parlante ("talking architecture"), which was an essential element inBeaux-Arts architectural training in the later 19th century. His style was most notably exemplified in his proposal for acenotaph (a funerary monument celebrating a figure interred elsewhere) for the English scientistIsaac Newton,[1] who 50 years after his death became a symbol of Enlightenment ideas.[1]
The building itself was a 150 metres (490 feet) tall sphere, taller than the Great Pyramids of Giza,[1] encompassed by two large barriers circled by hundreds of cypress trees. The massive, spherical shape of the building was inspired by Boullée's own study called "theory of bodies" where he claims that the most beautiful and perfect natural body is the sphere, which is the most prominent element of the Newton Memorial.[2] Though the structure was never built,[1] Boullée had many ink and wash drawings engraved and circulated widely within professional circles in 1784.[1]
The small sarcophagus for Newton would have been placed at the lower pole of the sphere. The design of the memorial was intended to create the effect of day and night. The night effect would have occurred when the sarcophagus is illuminated by the sunlight coming through the holes in the vaulting, giving the illusion of stars in the night sky. The day effect would have been provided via an armillary sphere hanging in the center that gives off a mysterious glow. Thus,the use of light in the building's design would have caused the building's interior to change its appearance.[3]
Theboiseries, still often dated in the mid-1760s, were discussed in the issue ofL'Avant-coureur for 21 January 1761, and so must have been carried out about 1758–59.[4] TheHôtel in theMarais district remodelled for Claude-Charles-Dominique Tourolle survives (the rue d'Orléans is now the rue Charlot) but the salon'sboiseries andchimneypieces were removed in the mid-nineteenth century to a house in therue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré now in the possession of theCercle Interallié. Round-arched mirrors over the chimneypieces and centering the long wall in a shallowrecess are disposed in a system ofstop-flutedIonicpilasters. Whitemarble-drapedcaryatidtherm figures support the chimneypiece'stablette. There is a fullarchitrave under adentilledcornice. The white-and-gold ensemble would still have been fully in style in 1790.
TheHôtel Alexandre or Hôtel Soult, rue de la Ville l'Évêque, Paris (1763–1766), is the sole survivor of Boullée's residential work in Paris. It was built for the financier André-Claude-Nicolas Alexandre.[5] In itscour d'honneur four Ionic columns embedded against a recess in the wall plane create an entry (now glazed). Flanking doors in the corners of the courtyard have isolated architraves embedded in the wall above their plain openings, while above oval bull's-eye windows are draped with the swags of husks that became a common feature of the neoclassical manner. The garden front has a colossal order of pilasters raised on the high basement occupied by the full height of the ground floor.
In around 1781, Boullée designed an architecture plan calledProject for a metropole, whichdeals with light, as do many of his designs, as an important element. Light is a metaphor for enlightenment as is darkness for ignorance. The plan features columns spaced closer together then thecanon forclassical architecture would have them be placed and oversizedpendentives.[6]
Boullée's ideas had a major influence on his contemporaries, not least because of his role in teaching other important architects such asJean-François Chalgrin,Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, andJean-Nicolas-Louis Durand. Some of his work only saw the light of day in the 20th century; his bookArchitecture, essai sur l'art ("Essay on the Art of Architecture), arguing for an emotionally committed Neoclassicism, was only published in 1953. The volume contained his work from 1778 to 1788, which mostly comprised designs for public buildings on a wholly impractical grand scale.
Boullée's fondness for grandiose designs has caused him to be characterised as both a megalomaniac and a visionary. His focus on polarity (offsetting opposite design elements) and the use of light and shadow was highly innovative, and continues to influence architects to this day. He was "rediscovered" in the 20th century and has influenced recent architects such asAldo Rossi.
Peter Greenaway's filmThe Belly of an Architect (1987) concerns a fictitious architect who is staging an exhibition devoted to Boullée's work. The film contains many visual references to Boullée.
What Dreams May Come (1998) features a Library inspired by Boullée's 1785 "Deuxieme Projet pour la Bibliothèque du Roi"[7]
Ethel Cain's song "Etienne", from the studio recordPerverts (2025), is named after Boullée. Cain has stated that the song "was [her] ode to him", paying tribute to his life and work.[8]
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