LEGO Architecture 21036, Руководство пользователя, Страница: 8 / 88

The architects and design history
In March 1806, architect Jean-Francois-Therese Chalgrin
(1739-1811) was given the task of finding the best possible
location for a “triumphal arch” in Paris. He studied several
different options and on May 9th, Napoleon agreed to the
site: Place de l’Etoile.
Chalgrin was then tasked with designing and constructing
the Arch itself, and on August 15th, 1806 the first stone was
laid to coincide with Napoleon’s birthday. Chalgrin was able
to see his drawings brought to life when a wood and painted
canvas replica of the Arch was constructed exactly the same
as it was to be built. This allowed the architect to make some
last minute changes after seeing what it would look like.
After the unfortunate death of Chalgrin in 1811, the work was
taken over by Louis-Robert Goust (1762-1838) who had been a
pupil of Chalgrin. The construction of the arch was disrupted
and eventually halted in April 1814 by the defeat of Napoleon
and subsequent decades of political turmoil. In 1832 the
architect Guillaume-Abel Blouet (1795-1853) took over the
project and the Arch was eventually completed in 1836. Blouet
is the architect actually credited on the monument itself.
While the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture
was Chalgrin’s design, the main sculptures, treated as
independent trophies applied to the vast masonry edifice,
were created by many of the most renowned French artists of
the day such as Jean-Pierre Cordot, François Rude, Antoine
Étex, James Pradier and Philippe Lemaire.
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