Jean Louis Pascal

"JEAN LOUIS PASCAL (1837-1920), French architect, was born in Paris June 4 1837, and his architectural education was begun at the age of 16 when he became a pupil of Gilbert. Later, when in the studio of Questel, he entered the Rcole des Beaux-Arts, where, amongst other distinctions gained, in 1866 he won the Grand Prix de Rome. On his return to Paris in 1870, after his four years at the Villa Medici, he was appointed inspector of works at the Louvre and the Tuilleries. In 1872 he became patron of his atelier, and thereafter was appointed assessor in public competitions, and subsequently received many distinctions. Amongst these was his election to the council of the Beaux-Arts and president of the jury, and to membership of the Institut de France, and finally he became commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur. In his long career the private, as apart from official, work of Pascal was of a very diversified nature, and covered a wide area of ground, domestic and civil, and particularly a long series of artistic memorial monuments such as those commemorating Col. d'Argy at Rome, Henri Regnault at the Rcole des Beaux-Arts, and President Carnot at Bordeaux. Among his buildings are the Château du Doux, Correze, that for the Faculte de Medecine, Bordeaux - a design with much dignity and calm - the painter Perrault's house and studio, Paris, and several villas and châteaux in the provinces - at Pau, Beaulieu, Avignon and elsewhere. He lived long enough to see, at the close of his busy career of over 50 years, the completion of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, a fine building characteristic of his learning and ingenuity, but speaking none of the modern note of a too conscious individuality. A man of untiring energy, Pascal's application to his atelier work and his many professional calls did not prevent his finding time for the literary side of architecture and he, with M. Gaudet, is responsible for the splendid edition of Blondel's Architecture Francaise, published under the auspices of the French Government. The celebrated atelier of which he was for so many years the greatly respected patron, was responsible in his time for the training of many architects to be found later on in every country in Europe, in the United States and in Canada. Among them were Sir John Burnet, Thomas Hastings of New York, Signor Beltrani of Milan and Henri Nenot of Paris. In 1914 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects but his great age and state of health prevented his receiving this in person. He died in Paris in 1920.

Categories: Biography | PAC-PEL