Jakob Ignaz Hittorff
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Jacques Ignace Hittorff or, in German, Jakob Ignaz Hittorff (, ) (
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, 20 August 1792 – 25 March 1867) was a German-born French architect who combined advanced structural use of new materials, notably
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
, with conservative Beaux-Arts classicism in a career that spanned the decades from the Restoration to the
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
.


Biography

After serving an apprenticeship to a mason in his native city, he went in 1810 to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and studied for some years at the
Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
while working concurrently as a draughtsman for Charles Percier. At the Académie, he was a favourite pupil of the government architect François-Joseph Bélanger, who employed him in the construction of one of the first cast-iron constructions in France, the cast-iron and glass dome of the
grain market The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
, '' Halle au Blé'' (1808–13). In 1814, Bélanger appointed Hittorff his principal inspector on construction sites. Succeeding Bélanger as government architect in 1818, Hittorff designed many important public and private buildings in Paris and also in the south of France. From 1819 to 1830, in collaboration with Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe he directed the royal fêtes and ceremonials, for which elaborate temporary structures were required, a post with a long history, which the two architects inherited from Bélanger. Hittorff also designed a new building for the
Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique The Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique (, literally, Theatre of the Comic-Ambiguity), a former Parisian theatre, was founded in 1769 on the boulevard du Temple immediately adjacent to the Théâtre de Nicolet. It was rebuilt in 1770 and 1786, but in ...
with Lecointe. After making architectural tours in
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,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, Hittorff published the result of his Sicilian observations in ''Architecture antique de la Sicile'' (3 volumes, 1826–1830; revised, 1866–1867), and also in ''Architecture moderne de la Sicile'' (1826–1835). One of his important discoveries was that colour had been employed in ancient Greek architecture, a subject which he especially discussed in ''Architecture polychrome chez les Grecs'' (1830) and in ''Restitution du temple d'Empédocle à Sélinonte'' (1851). In accordance with the doctrines enunciated in these works, he was in the habit of making colour an important feature in most of his architectural designs. In 1833, Hittorff was entrusted with redesigning the
Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. ...
, carried out in stages between 1833 and 1846. In 1836 the obelisk of Luxor was erected and the two ''
Fontaines de la Concorde The Fontaines de la Concorde are two monumental fountains located in the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris. They were designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, and completed in 1840 during the reign of King Louis-Philippe. The south foun ...
'', one commemorating river navigation and commerce and the other ocean navigation and commerce, were placed on either side. At each angle of the square's extended octagon a statue was erected representing a French city: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg. In 1833 he was also elected a member of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
. With
Thomas Leverton Donaldson Thomas Leverton Donaldson (19 October 1795 – 1 August 1885) was a British architect, notable as a pioneer in architectural education, as a co-founder and President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a winner of the RIBA Royal Gold ...
and Charles Robert Cockerell, Hittorff was also a member of the committee formed in 1836 to determine whether the
Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...
and other Greek statuary in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
had originally been coloured; their conclusions were published in ''Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects'', 1842.


Principal works

Hittorff's principal buildings are the church of St. Vincent de Paul in the
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
style, which was constructed in partnership with
Jean-Baptiste Lepère Jean-Baptiste Lepère (December 1, 1761 – July 16, 1844) was a French architect, father-in-law of the architect Jacques Hittorff. He was the designer of the church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris, largely revised by Hittorf during its protract ...
, 1830–44, and the '' Cirque d'hiver'', also in Paris, which opened as the ''Cirque Napoléon'' in 1852. Its 20-sided polygon around an oval central ring or stage surrounded by steeply tiered seating, is covered by a polygonal roof with no central post that could block the view. Hittorff also designed the Circus of the Empress, the Rotunda of the panoramas, the Gare du Nord (1861–63), many cafés and restaurants on the
Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...
, the facades forming the circle round the Arc de Triomphe in ''Place de l'Étoile'', as well as many embellishments in the
Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by t ...
and other places. A project that failed to please
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
was Hittorff's proposal for the ''Palais de l'Industrie'' to be constructed in 1853 to house the Exposition Universelle of 1855. On 27 March 1852, the ''Prince-Président''— soon to declare himself Emperor— decreed that this exhibition would take place in a hall to rival the
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of the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Hittorff's solution, an immense hall of iron and glass, was too audacious. The commission passed to other architects, and a conservative compromise was effected. Hittorff was part of the team that designed the Grand Hôtel du Louvre in Paris, which opened in 1855 in time for the Exposition Universelle. He worked on this project with
Alfred Armand Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
(1805–88), Auguste Pellechet (1829-1903) and
Charles Rohault de Fleury Charles Rohault de Fleury (or Rohaut de Fleury; 22 September 1801 – 11 August 1875) was a French architect who designed many buildings in Paris, France, in the 19th century. In his later life he wrote a number of books on archaeological and rel ...
(1801–75).


Notes


See also

*
List of works by Eugène Guillaume The following is a list of works by French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Claude Eugène Guillaume. Works in cathedrals and churches Beaux-arts de Paris, l'école nationale supérieure Guillaume was a pupil of the school and won the 1845 Prix de Rom ...


References


Jacques Ignace Hittorff


External links

*
Die Sammlung Jakob Ignaz Hittorff
in der Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln The Hittorff-Collection in the University and City Library of Cologne {{DEFAULTSORT:Hittorff 1792 births Architects from Cologne 1867 deaths 19th-century French architects Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Members of the Académie des beaux-arts École des Beaux-Arts alumni Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)