Auguste Perret 1874-1954

The name rationalism is

retroactively applied to a movement
in architecture that came about
during the Enlightenment (more
specifically, neoclassicism), arguing
that architecture's intellectual base
is primarily in science as opposed to
reverence for and emulation of
archaic traditions and beliefs.
Rational architects, following the
philosophy of René Descartes
emphasized geometric forms and
ideal proportions.

A pioneer in reinforced concrete

construction.
The context of his architecture
Geographical context:

Auguste Perret was a French architect based in Paris. He worked in partnership with his brother
Gustave Perret.

Paris
 Context
Auguste Perret was an important pioneer of the
modern movement. His most significant buildings
were constructed in reinforced concrete in the years
between 1902 to 1922.

He was the youngest of the first generation of

modernists being only 28 when he built his first major
building, his family-owned apartments at 25 bis Rue
Franklin, Paris in 1902.

Perret studied for a brief time in the academic Ecole

des Beaux Arts, the conservative, classical-revival
design school of the period. But he left this formal
architectural training early to work with his father and
brother in the family’s concrete construction business.
These two early experiences shaped two stylistic
characteristics of Perret’s work:
1) His use of classical proportion and symmetry
2) His functional approach to design and
construction in reinforced concrete.
Apartments, 25 bis Rue Franklin, Paris, 1902.
 Context
Auguste Perret was one of the very first architects to give
a modern architectural expression to reinforced concrete..
In the 1890s Francois Hennebique introduced the
trebeated structural system of reinforced concreting, but
it was with Auguste Perret that this new, industrial
material became expressed architecturally on the facade
of buildings.

Up till 1908 the young Le Corbusier worked in Perret’s

architectural practice. From him Le Corbusier learned
about:
Hennebique’s system, developed in 1892,
● using reinforced concrete to create skeletal
for structural continuity in reinforcing
structures for building concrete posts, beams and slabs.

● using classical proportions and composition in

modern design
● using standardised components in design and
construction
● a geometric approach to design and the flat
Le Corbusier
roof as living space. Perret
 Stylistic features of Perret’s buildings
As a pioneer of the architecturally
expressed reinforced concrete frame,
Perret’s buildings feature large areas of
glazing on the non-weight-bearing walls.
Internal spaces are open and generous and
often lit by skylights.
Perret’s buildings are often described as
‘stripped classical’. They have the
symmetrical, balanced and harmonious
proportions and rhythms of classical
architecture, often with abstract references
to columns and cornices.

He stripped away the ornament and detailing

indulged in by the Beaux Arts classical-revival
architects of the day. These qualities give his
buildings formality and dignity.
Perret’s buildings have a rational
functionalism. Concrete is left raw, though
sometimes with coloured or patterned
elements to them. His designs arose out of
modern functional considerations rather than
aesthetic ones.
The significant Perret building.

Apartments, 25 bis Rue Franklin, Paris, 1902

Stylistic features of Perret’s Rue Franklin Apartments
The rectangular frame allows for roof
terraces on setbacks of upper apartments.

U-shaped front façade inspired by statu-

tory light courts at the rear of Parisian
apartment buildings.

The trabeated, rectangular concrete

frame throughout building is not
exposed directly, but is expressed by
the plain tiles on the façade.

The non-weight-bearing walls are ex-

pressed as slightly-recessed infill panels
of floral-patterned ceramic tile.

At street level the Perrets had their architecture studio. This

large, open space exposed the uprights of the concrete
frame and became forerunners of Le Corbusier’s pilotis.
Stylistic features of Perret’s Rue Franklin Apartments
Glazed openings are as large as zoning laws allowed.

The concrete frame allows for thin wall partitions and

maximum interior space.

Dining room Drawing room Bedroom

At the sixth storey apartment a reinforced concrete

frame breaks free of the wall surface. This looks forward
to the airy, transparent effects of the International Style.

A full appreciation of the building’s form can be gained

only by moving across its entire façade. This experiential
dimension to architectural form and space is modernist.