Michel Roux-Spitz (13 June 1888 – 15 July 1957) was a French architect.

Life

Roux-Spitz was born 13 June 1888 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. The son of an architect, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, Lyon in the studio of Tony Garnier and then became a student in the workshop of Gaston Redon and Alfred Henry Recoura at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. He won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1920. He moved to Paris on his return from Rome in 1924. Influenced by Auguste Perret, he made a characteristic building of his style - with bay windows to 3 sides on the front - at 14 Guynemer street in Paris. He repeated that form in several works, such as the Quai d'Orsay, known as the "White Series". He was appointed editor in chief of ''The Architect'' between 1925 and 1932, then joined the Board of Patrons of the journal ''L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui'' in 1930. He again became editor of the French magazine ''Architecture'' between 1943 and 1950. Roux-Spitz used these various forums to defend the position of modern architects, but opposed the radical principles of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. He was also a professor of theory at the ''

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

'' in 1940. Official duties included chief architect of civil buildings and national palaces, and architect of the postal services. He was chief architect of the National Library in 1932 and remained so until 1953, in this post making a rearrangement within the current Richelieu site and construction of an annex to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. On 29 March 1945, he was appointed chief architect for reconstruction of the township of

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. His reconstruction plan was finally approved in 1947.See the file on the reconstruction of Nantes rchivepublished by the Municipal Archives in Nantes Roux-Spitz died on 15 July 1957 at

Dinard Dinard (; , ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this has resul ...

Key achievements

*1924: Tombstone of Andrew Bouxin, Aubenton ( Aisne ) *1925: Castle Choulans or Turrets, current Cervantes Institute in Lyon *1925-1928: 14 rue Guynemer building in the 6th arrondissement of Paris (inscribed MH) *1924-1929: Theatre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon *1928: Dental School Lyon *1928-1930: Monument "In Defence of the Suez Canal", Ismailia ( Egypt ) *1929: Building 89 Quai d'Orsay, 22 rue Cognac-Jay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris *1929-1931: Building 115 avenue Henri-Martin / St-Octave Feuillet in the 16th arrondissement of Paris *1930: 45-47 Boulevard building of Inkerman in Neuilly-sur-Seine (included MH) *1930: Building of homes and artists' studios, 3 rue de la Cité Universitaire in the 14th arrondissement of Paris (inscribed MH) *1930: expansion of the engineering works to Delachaux Gennevilliers ( Hauts-de-Seine ) *1931: Post Office-Paris Bourse *1931-1933: National School of Ceramics, attached to the National Manufactory of Sèvres *1932: Annex to the National Library in Versailles *1932-1935: Central Cheque Postal rue des Favorites, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris *1935-1938: Post Hotel in Lyon *1938: Villa "Greystone", facing the sea at Dinard (owned by the architect) *1947-1949: City of blast pavements, street paving in high- Nantes *1948-1950: Regional Directorate of PTT in Paris *1949-1955: development of Place Brittany in Nantes *1951-1964: CHU - Hôtel-Dieu de Nantes, finished by his collaborator Yves Liberge and his son Jean Roux-Spitz *1955-1961: Hospital of Dijon completed by Jean Roux-Spitz *1956-1959: Hôtel de Ville, (city hall) St. Nazaire

References

Bibliography

Writings by the architect

*Michel Roux-Spitz, "Against the new formalism", in L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui No. 3, April 1932, p. 61-63 reprinted: "Against the new formalism", followed by "Towards a new order ...", ed. Altamira, 1994.

Written about the architect

* Compte-rendu de Danièle Voldman dans la revue ''XX^e siècle'' n°6, 1985 * ''Michel Roux-Spitz : réalisations'', Préfacier Jean PORCHER & Julien CAIN, éd. Vincent, Fréal, & Cie, 9331959, 3 Vol. * * Simon Texier, "Michel Roux-Spitz : les paradoxes de la série blanche", in Éric Lapierre (dir.), ''Identification d'une ville : architectures de Paris'', éd. Picard/Pavillon de l'Arsenal, 2002, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Roux-Spitz, Michel 1888 births 1957 deaths Architects from Lyon École des Beaux-Arts alumni Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts Prix de Rome for architecture 20th-century French architects