Antoine (Maurice Joseph Charles) Picon (born 8 March 1957) is a 20th-/21st-century French professor of the History of Architecture and technology and co-director of Doctoral Programs (

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

& DDes) at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

. He teaches courses in the history and

theory of architecture A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

and technology. He is member of the scientific committee of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles -ENSAV-

Career

Picon graduated from the

École Polytechnique École 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 flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1979 and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in 1981. Architect DPLG in 1984 and Doctor in History of School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, with honors in 1991. He was a public servant with the grade of General Engineer of Roads and Bridges. From 1981 to 1984 he was a Special Advisor to the Office of the Ministry of Architectural Research Equipment. He was a researcher from 1984 until 1994 when he became director of research at the National School of Bridges and Roads. He held this position until 1997, when his title was changed to professor. In 2002 he took up the position of Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at the

. Since 2008 he has also been a researcher at the National School of Bridges and Roads.

Honors and awards

Picon has received a number of awards in France for his writings, including the Medaille de la Ville de Paris and twice the Prix du Livre d'Architecture de la ville de Briey. He is chairman of the Fondation Le Corbusier. He is Chevalier des Arts et Lettres since 2014 in recognition of his significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.

Works

Trained as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

of science and art, Picon has published extensively on the history of architectural and urban technologies from the 18th century to the present. * 2021 ''The Materiality of Architecture'', University Of Minnesota Press * 2015 ''Smart Cities : a spatialised Intelligence'', Wiley * 2013 ''Smart Cities : Théorie et critique d'un idéal auto-réalisateur'', Paris Editions B2 * 2013 ''Ornament: The Politics of Architecture and Subjectivity'', Wiley * 2010 ''Digital Culture in Architecture: An Introduction for the Design Profession'', Birkhäuser Architecture * 2007 ''Marc Mimram architect-engineer : hybrid'', Gollion: Infolio * 2006 ''Tra utopia e ruggine. Paesaggi dell'ingegneria dal settecento a oggi'', Alberto Allemandi & C * 2003 ''Dictionnaire de Utopies'', Larousse (co-authors Michèle Riot-Sarcey, Thomas Bouchet) * 2003 ''Architecture and the sciences : exchanging metaphors'', Princeton Architectural Press * 2002 ''Les Saint-Simoniens: Raison, Imaginaire, et Utopie'', Paris, Belin * 1999 ''Le dessus des cartes/un atlas parisien'', Pavillon de l'Arsenal, Picard * 1999 ''L'aventure du balnéaire : la grande motte de Jean Balladur'', Editions Parentheses, Marseilles (co author Claude Prelorenzo) * 1998 ''La ville territoiire des cyborgs'', Les Éditions de L'Imprimeur * 1997 ''L'art de l'ingénieur : constructeur, entrepreneur, inventeur'', Centre George Pompidou * 1996 ''La Ville et la Guerre'', Les Éditions de L'Imprimeur * 1992 ''L'Invention de l'Ingénieur Moderne, L'Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées 1747-1851'', Ecole des Ponts et Chausses * 1992 ''French Architects and Engineers in the Age of Enlightenment'', Cambridge University Press * 1989 ''L'ingénieur artiste : dessins anciens de l'école des ponts et chaussées'', Presses de l'Ecole nationale des ponts et Chaussées (co author Michel Yvon) * 1988 ''Claude Perrault (1613-1688) ou la Curiosité d'un classique'', Picard * 1988 ''Les architectes et les ingénieurs français dans le Siècle des Lumières'', Presses de l'École nationale des ponts et chaussées Picon has also published numerous articles, mostly dealing with the complementary histories of architecture and technology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picon, Antoine 1957 births 20th-century French architects 21st-century French architects Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Living people École des Ponts ParisTech alumni École Polytechnique alumni Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres