Th.--Hist. de l'art--Paris 1, 1986.

Thesis. 1976. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / by Gail C. Boyajian. / M.Arch.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 3, leaves 470-517). / This dissertation is an historical inquiry into the role played by new building materials in the formation of architectural modernism in France. It proceeds on the theoretical assumption that a "material" is not a technical given -- a securely defined entity in the physical and linguistic senses -- but an architectural construct whose "inherent properties" are a matter of interpretation. It suggests that within a specific architectural culture, the conceptions and uses of a material are defined by concerns that are not only constructional but involve architectural doctrines, building practices, aesthetic projects, and cultural strategies. Since the publication of Sigfried Giedion's Bauen in Frankreich. Bauen in Eisen. Bauen in Eisenbeton (1928), reinforced concrete has been commonly accepted as the common denominator of French modernism. The dissertation questions this interpretive assumption, focusing on the changing conceptions of the material as an index of transformations in French architecture and architectural culture. It covers a period that spans from the Universal Exhibition of 1889 to the early 1930s, a period which saw the development of reinforced concrete in French architecture, from its emergence within architectural discourses to its inscription within early modernist historiography. Through a close examination of contemporary books and periodicals, unpublished sources, and graphic documents, the dissertation explores the theories and works that framed the critical relationship of new material to French modernism. Inaugurated with the late nineteenth-century demise of metal as the leading material in architectural theory, the preeminence of reinforced concrete in French architecture was marked by the dispersion of rationalist tenets into competing architectural programs. The First World War was a pivotal event in this process. Of principal importance were the positions of Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier. While Perret insisted on continuity with prewar practices, emphasizing the role of craft production, Le Corbusier embraced the rupture brought about by the societe machinique, shifting towards the idea of industrialized construction. These positions were key to the technical and aesthetic definition of the modem house, from the function of the concrete frame to the nature of external revetments. They also led the way to the cultural and ideological debates that ensued on the nationality of the material and the sources of modem architecture. In the late 1920s the return of metal merely underscored the "rhetoric of materials" in the definition of French modernism. / by Réjean Legault. / Ph.D.

No description available.

The parish churches of Paris rebuilt between 1489 and 1590 are defined as an important group late Gothic monuments. They were each modeled after the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and given many of the same characteristics. The architectural features used in the rebuilding of the parish churches are part of a well-defined architectural vocabulary of both classical and flamboyant forms. The building histories show that the stylistic qualities of these monuments are the result of the constant application and reception of prevailing architectural ideas. The architectural arrangements and iconographic programs reveal the role of patrons; the monarchs, in particular, used the rebuilding of the parish churches to help define their own image. In this respect, the ecclesiastic architecture of the sixteenth century is reminiscent of the Court Style of Louis IX.

No description available.

No description available.

Grâce à son héritage beaux-arts, Charles Gamier a conçu un Opéra qui s'inscrit dans la continuité de la tradition architecturale classique. Il décorera toutefois le bâtiment en empruntant les stratégies du Romantisme afin de créer un style propre à son époque, le style actuel. Sous cet aspect, l'architecte de l'Opéra marque un renouveau en architecture. Celui-ci se façonne non pas par l'utilisation de matériaux modernes, mais par l'attention que l'architecte porte à la circulation et à l'ornementation ainsi que par la compréhension qu'il a du rôle social que doit jouer le bâtiment. Au paroxysme de la fièvre du progrès au XIXe siècle, Gamier choisit de transformer le décor intérieur en une couche sensible, avec une dimension psychologique affirmée pour les visiteurs.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 348-379). / This dissertation concerns the extensive building program which Henri IV undertook in Paris from 1600 to 1610. Focusing on the place Royale (now called the place des Vosges) , the place Dauphine, rue Dauphine, and Pont Neuf, and the hôpital St. Louis, this study holds that Henri IV's urbanism was guided by an emerging view of the city as a unified entity. Drawing from newly uncovered notarial documents, the dissertation examines the form and the function of the monuments and argues that each building was embedded in its physical context, engaged in the life of the city, and informed by an underlying urban vision . First, the buildings were not autonomous geometric forms dropped into open spaces; they were conceived as parts of a larger urban composition, structured by axes which linked the monuments to major roads without however diminishing the quality of spatial enclosure which the designs also promoted. Second, the squares and the hospital were each charged with a program anchored in the commercial, social, and sanitary life of the city. The place Royale and place Dauphine were planned as residential and commercial squares to stimulate trade and manufacturing while the hôpital St. Louis was intended to minimize the convulsive effect of the plague on the city. Finally, the dissertation argues that the royal building program was not merely a sequence of unrelated improvements and isolated adornments, but rather a series of coordinated efforts to impose a unifying order on the city. The monuments were assigned functions which addressed the city as a whole . They were physically linked to more distant parts of the city, and they were composed to create grand urban vistas. The urban fabric was no long e r conceived as an accumulation of fragments contained within the walls; it was understood as a cohesive network with its own internal order. / by Hilary Meg Ballon. / Ph.D.

This thesis is a comprehensive analysis of the hull remains of La Belle, a ship wrecked off the coast of Texas in 1684 during the failed attempt by Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The analysis of La Belle's hull focused on five research goals. The first was to reconstruct the conception and design of the hull. Because La Belle was built on France's Atlantic coast, it was expected that the ship would fit into Atlantic traditions of shipbuilding. Instead, it exhibits an ancient Mediterranean method known only from Renaissance manuscripts. Until La Belle's discovery no archaeological example associated with this method had been identified. Reconstruction of the lines also revealed the unexpected use of surmarks that reflect a transition from a largely empirical approach to the architecturally-based ship plan. The second goal was the documentation of a previously unstudied ship type, the barque longue, through an analysis and description of the hull's assembly and its comparison to contemporary shipbuilding practices. The third goal was an analysis of newly discovered registries, letters, and documents specific to La Belle that raised fundamental questions regarding the ship's genesis and typological identification. The fourth goal was species identification of the timbers to provide a more detailed picture of forest exploitation and to identify whether Old or New World timbers were used in the repairs noted in the hull. The fifth goal was to obtain information on the origin of the wood through dendrochronological analysis. That analysis raised unexpected questions regarding dating and the possibility of re-use of whole frame sets. Because there are no other investigated late 17th-century shipwreck sites from the Rochefort region with species and dendrochronology data, La Belle has provided a benchmark for these two analyses. These five research foci provide a unique picture of late 17th-century shipbuilding in French Atlantic shipyards and contribute to the study of hull design, ship typology, construction and assembly, wood species use and origin, dendrochronological dating, and timber reuse.