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(18th
BOULLE
CENTURY
TOA-2
ARCHITECTURAL THEORIST NO.7
6 B TOSA
BY: Ar.NIDHI JOSHI
INTRODUCTION
BOULLES
1. He originally wanted to be a
painter, but, following the wishes of
his father, who was an Architect
himself, he turned to architecture.
LIFE
Jacques-Franois Blondel
1705-1774
French architect, theorist,
writer &teacher
Germain
Boffrand
1667-1754
French architect
BOULLES
LIFE CONTD.
5. At the age of 19, he became a teacher at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees ( French School
of Civil Engineering ).
6. In 1762 at the age of 34 he joined Academi d' Architecture as a second class member and
became actively involved in its various intrests,including education,construction,administration
and public buildings.
7. He became chief architect toFrederick II of Prussia, a largely honorary title.
8. At the age of 52 he became a first class member of the Academy, until the National Convention
abolished the Academy in 1793.
9. He was one of the founders of theInstitut National des Sciences et des Artsin 1795.(age
67)
10.Political and economic circumstances in France limited his commissions to a few large houses.
11.He designed a number of private houses from 1762 to 1778, though most of these no longer
exist; notable survivors include the :
. Htel Alexandre (1763-66) and
. Htel de Brunoy ( 1774-79), both in Paris.
12.Although few of his architectural designs were built, his theories and drawings enjoyed a large
public following.
13.Together with Claude Nicolas Ledoux he was one of the most influential figures of French
neoclassical architecture.
HTEL
DE BRUNOY
GARDEN ELEVATION
HTEL
DE BRUNOY
HTEL
DE BRUNOY
Htel de Brunoy, Paris, France, tienne-Louis Boulle, 178384, perspective, drawing of approx 1785, British Library,
London.
FYI
FYI - PRUSSIA
Prussia's power grew and in 1772, under King Friedrich II (Frederick the
Great), consisted of the provinces of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Danzig, West
Prussia and East Prussia (modern day East Germany, northern Poland, and a
small portion of the Soviet Union).
BOULLES GEOMETRIC
STYLE
1. It was as a teacher and theorist at the cole Nationale des Ponts et Chausses between 1778
and 1788 that Boulle made his biggest impact, developing a distinctive abstract geometric
style inspired by Classical forms.
2. Despite the innovativeNeoclassicismof his executed works, Boulle achieved a truly lasting
influence as a teacher and theorist. Through his atelier passed such masters as AlexandreThodore Brongniart, Jean-Franois-Thrse Chalgrin, Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, and Louis-Michel
Thibault. In all, he taught for more than 50 years.
3. His work was characterized by the removal of all unnecessary ornamentation, inflating
geometric forms to a huge scale and repeating elements such as columns in huge
ranges.
4. Boulle promoted the idea of making architecture expressive of its purpose, a doctrine
termed Architecture parlante("talking architecture") by his detractors, which became an
essential element in Beaux-Arts architectural training in the later nineteenth century.
5. Boullee admired the clear, bold lines of neoclassic architecture but considered emotion equally
as important to architecture as classical rules of proportioning.
6. His style was most notably exemplified in his proposal for a cenotaph for the English
scientistIsaac Newton
7. For Boulle regularity, symmetry and variety were the golden rules of architecture.
BOULLEES
THOERY
BOULLEES
THEORY
BOULLEES
THEORY
BOULLEES
THEORY
BOULLE`S ANALYSIS:
Boullee was a sensationalist in his aesthetics and spoke of architecture as poetry, by
which he meant a kind of poetry composed of symmetry, regularity, varied form, and
character
How is it that we can recognize the shape of a regular volume at a glance?
It is because it is simple in form, its planes are regular and it repeats itself.
But since we gauge the impression that objects make on us by their clarity, what makes us
single out regular volumes in particulars is the fact that their regularity and their
symmetry represent order, and order is clarity.
Once observed that the shape of a regular volume is determined by regularity, symmetry
and variety, then it is understood that proportion is the combination of these properties.
BOULLEES
ANALYSIS
BOULLEES
ANALYSIS
BOULLE`S ANALYSIS:
In architecture a lack of proportion is not generally very obvious except
to the eye of the connoisseur.
It is thus evident that although proportion is one of the most
important elements constituting beauty in architecture, it is not
the primary law from which its basic principles derive.
It is easy for the reader to surmise that the basic rule and the one that
governs the principles of architecture, originates in regularity and
also that any deviation from symmetry in architecture is inconceivable.
ON CHARACTER OF A BUILDING
The depth of the light enhances our impressions; its effects are
both vivid and dazzling. all is radiant!
The effect of light and its powers on defining form ,shape, colour etc
are bought about by Boullee by describing seasons and nature in
poetic manner; making it hard for one to disagree.
The arrangement should be such that we can absorb at a glance the
multiplicity of the separate elements that constitute the whole.
The play of light on this arrangement of volumes should produce the
most widespread, striking and varied effects that are all multiplied to
the maximum.
BOULLEES
LEGACY
FYI
Aldo Rossi(3 May 1931 4 September 1997)
was an Italianarchitectanddesignerwho
accomplished the unusual feat of achieving
international recognition in four distinct areas:
theory, drawing, architecture and product
design.[1]
He was the first Italian to receive thePritzker
Prize for architecture.