Claude-Nicolas Ledoux -- Something Lost

l'Étoile

In my last architectural history class, concerned with the period 1750-present, I remember being most taken by our studies of Ledoux. My back straightened as my professor clicked through the first slides of this man's works. My sympathy for that state has somewhat diminished, but it's probably because I lack the contextual understanding. Still, he's fascinating. Pictured is his Barriere l'Étoile, one project among a series of toll-houses erected along the border of Paris. They were tasked with representing The Monarchy architecturally and there was probably no person more equipped to succeed than Ledoux, originator of architecture parlant, or "speaking architecture". (This is all just before the French Revolution and Ledoux was dubbed a "revolutionary" architect.)  Ledoux's idea was that a building should communicate its purpose to everyone who was destined to interact with it, not simply those select graduates of the École des Beaux-Arts. Not such a disagreeable idea, I think.

I wanted to share this particular work as one of his most fascinating and most obscure. The powerful, oppressive columnar patterning can also be found in the portico of the master's house of his more famous "Saltworks". Approximately half of his work remains in existence, including a few toll-houses, each of which is highly experimental and divergent from the last.