Test your design IQ
MANILA, Philippines - Who is the 18th century French architect known for his Rococo and early Neoclassical style seen in landmark buildings in France?
He was born in Ivry du Seine on May 11,1698, and is one of most celebrated designers working in the late Rococo and early Neoclassical style.
He held the title “Architect to the King,” and worked only with very rich and influential clients such as Louise Philippe duc d’Orleans, for whom he transformed interiors of the Palais Royal in Paris in 1754.
His designs were widely-admired and published by Diderot and d’Alembert in Encyclopedie 1762 where Jacques Francois Blondel praised their “correct middle pathway between two excesses, that of the heavy weight of our ancients and that of frivolity.”
Surviving the examples include the dining room of the Duchesse d’orleans which is in a neoclassical style with pilasters, and another of her rooms, which is lighter and more reminiscent of the earlier French Regency period.
He was also responsible for the exteriors of the northern part of the east wing, the avant corps of which “with its giant balcony brackets and rather inventive detailing, combines Rococo-style decorative charm with a certain classical solidity in its massing.”
His principal commissions include Hotel de Evreux in Place Vendome, the Hospital General in Valenciennes, Eglise Saint Wasnon at Conde sur Escaut, and the new place Saint Vaast d’Arras.
He also built Chateau de Bizy, Chateau d’Arnouville, Chateau de Saint Cloud, and the Chapel for the Prince de Conti in Chateau de Stors. He also designed gardens at the Cheateau de Charmarande where he provided a theater, an orangerie, an bugget d’eau, belvedere, and designs for an ornamental vegetable garden; and the park and monumental terraces at the Cheateau de Stors.
He died in Paris on October 1, 1777.
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Last week’s question: Who is the renowned French chef who is considered one of the Fathers of Nouvelle Cuisine and the Founder of the Cuisine Minceur?
Answer: Michel Guerard
Winner: Alfred Competente of Pandi, Bulacan
