Alexandre Perregaux (1 April 1749 – 21 May 1808) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

architect,

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

, and ivory carver. He is best known for his design of government buildings for the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

, in Switzerland.

Biography

Perregaux was born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

on April 1, 1749, to Jonas Perregaux, a carpenter from Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, and Marie-Françoise Bergier. After an apprenticeship as a goldsmith from 1761 to 1765, he completed his formation in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He then returned to Lausanne, where he was active as an

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals ...

carver in miniatures and medallions. Many of these ivory reliefs were then painted by Perregaux's daughter,

Marie Ferrier-Perregaux Jeanne-Marie-Françoise Perregaux, later Ferrier-Perregaux (1777–1838) was a Swiss painter. Ferrier-Perregaux was born in Lausanne, the daughter of architect and ivory carver Alexandre Perregaux. She was known for her portrait miniatures, and a ...

. He began his career as an architect in 1789, his first work being the ''Maison de Villamont'', in Lausanne, a house built for himself between 1791 and 1793. In 1798, with the ascension of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, m ...

, he was employed by the new government and entrusted with the maintenance of public buildings. After the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...

and the collapse of the republic in 1803, the Swiss Confederacy was restored but with new sovereign cantons, among them

, formerly ruled as subject lands before the French invasion. Perregaux was quickly commissioned by the new cantonal administration with the design of buildings that were to be used by the Vaudois government in Lausanne, among them the central Post Office, built between 1805 and 1807, and the building of the

Grand Council of Vaud The Grand Council of Vaud (french: Grand Conseil de Vaud) is the legislature of the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. Vaud has a unicameral legislature. The Great Council has 150 seats, with members elected every five years. The last electi ...

, built between 1803 and 1806. The latter housed the Grand Council since its inauguration until it was severely damaged by a fire in 2002. He also designed the first theatre of Lausanne, the ''Marterey'', inaugurated in 1805 and later replaced in 1871.

Gallery

Works

File:Maison de Villamont.jpg, ''Maison de Villamont'', Perregaux's house in Lausanne (completed in 1793) File:Parlement Grand Conseil vaudois 2020 (1).jpg, The facade of the Grand Council building, which survived the 2002 fire that damaged most of the structure (completed in 1806) File:Campagne du Désert.JPG, ''Campagne du Désert'', a Cultural Property of Regional Significance, in Lausanne

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perregaux, Alexandre 1749 births 1808 deaths 19th-century Swiss architects People from Lausanne Ivory carvers 18th-century Swiss architects