Pierre-François-Henri Labrouste () (11 May 1801 – 24 June 1875) was a French architect from the famous school of architecture. After a six-year stay in Rome, Labrouste established an architectural training workshop, which soon became known for rationalism. He became noted for his use of iron-frame construction and was one of the first to realize the importance of its use.

Biography

Born in Paris, Labrouste was one of five children of , a lawyer and politician from Bordeaux and Anne-Dominique Gourg (1764–1851), daughter and granddaughter of cognac merchants. He entered the

Collège Sainte-Barbe The Collège Sainte-Barbe () is a former college in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Collège Sainte-Barbe was founded in 1460 on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève ( Latin Quarter, Paris). It was until its closure in June 1999 the "oldest ...

as a student in 1809. He was then admitted into the second class and the Lebas-Vaudoyer workshop in the École Royale des Beaux Arts in 1819. In 1820, he was promoted to the first class. Competing for the Grand Prix, Labrouste was awarded second place (the Palais de Justice scored first) by Guillaume-Abel Blouet in 1821. In 1823, he won the departmental prize and worked as a lieutenant-inspector (''sous-inspecteur'') for the director Étienne-Hippolyte Godde during the construction of the Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou parish in Paris. In 1824 Labrouste won the competition with a design of a Court of Appeals (Cour de cassation). In November, he left Paris for Italy, visiting Turin, Milan, Lodi, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence and Arezzo. In July 1835 in Paris he was present at the scene when Giuseppe Marco Fieschi attempted the assassination of King

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

using a home-made, multi-barrel gun fired from an upstairs window. Although the King only received a minor injury, 18 people were killed, including Henri's father, Alexandre Labrouste.

Stay in Rome

Receiving a pension or stipend from the French government for five years, he and the other Académie française laureates stayed in the Medici Villa in Rome. The directors of the Académie stated in correspondence in French about the laureates that, in their studies of antiquity, they "must research the laws of proportion and reduce them to formulas to be used by masters and students in Paris."Correspondance des directeurs de l’Académie de France à Rome, tome 1, p. 28

Work

His work was the subject of "Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light," the first solo exhibition in the U.S. of his work, at The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City. His buildings include: * Sainte-Geneviève Library, Paris, built between 1843 and 1850 * The Salle Labrouste, a reading room in the in the Rue de Richelieu, Paris, and built between 1862 and 1868. For the Société Centrale des Architectes, today called Académie d'Architecture, Labrouste designed several medals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labrouste, Henri 1801 births 1875 deaths Architects from Paris 19th-century French architects French neoclassical architects Prix de Rome for architecture École des Beaux-Arts alumni Members of the Académie des beaux-arts