Auguste Choisy (7 February 1841 – 18 September 1909) was a French architectural historian and author of ''Histoire de l'Architecture''.

Biography

Choisy was born in Vitry-le-François. He studied architecture in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

the École des Ponts et Chaussées from 1861 to 1863. As part of his studies, he traveled to Rome and Athens where his interest was in the structures of ancient monuments rather than their decorative detail. He was professor of architecture at the

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École nationale des ponts et chaussées (; ; abbr. ENPC), also nicknamed Ponts (), formerly known as École des Ponts ParisTech (), is a grande école in the field of science, engineering and technology, of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, a ...

from 1877 to 1901. In 1899, he published his two-volume book, ''Histoire de l'architecture''. In it, he developed isometric drawings that combined plan, elevation, section, perspective into a single drawing. He then used this visual approach to describe buildings in social and material terms along with historical determinism. In 1904, he won the

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

's Royal Gold Medal. Very important for the study of Greek architecture was his contribution "Le pictoresque et l'art grec" (chapter in The history of architecture). Choisy died on September 18, 1909, at age 68, in

Books by Auguste Choisy

* ''L'art de bâtir chez les romains'' 1873 * ''L'Asie Mineure et les Turcs en 1875: Souvenirs de Voyage par Auguste Choisy'' 1876 * ''L'art de bâtir chez les byzantins'' 1883 * ''Etudes épigraphiques sur l'architecture grecque'' 1883 * ''Histoire de l'Architecture'' (''The history of architecture'') 1899 (two volumes) * ''L'Art de bâtir chez les Égyptiens'' 1904 * ''Vitruve 1909''

References

Thierry Mandoul, Entre raison et utopie. L'Histoire de l'architecture d'Auguste Choisy, Wavre, Mardaga, 2008, 320 p.

External links

* *
Biography of Auguste Choisy (in French)

The site for the centenary of Auguste Choisy. It will remain a permanent site for scholars with many relevant text in pdf otherwise out of reach 1841 births 1909 deaths People from Vitry-le-François French art historians French architecture writers French architectural historians French civil engineers Corps des ponts École Polytechnique alumni École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal French male non-fiction writers {{france-art-historian-stub