Auguste Choisy (7 February 1841 – 18 September 1909) was a French

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

and author of ''Histoire de l'Architecture''.

Biography

Choisy was born in

Vitry-le-François Vitry-le-François () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Canal. Vitry-le-François station has rail connections to Paris, Reims, Stras ...

. He studied architecture in

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 ...

at 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 ...

the

École des Ponts et Chaussées 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 ...

from 1861 to 1863. As part of his studies, he traveled to Rome and Athens where his interest was in the structures of ancient monuments rather than their decorative detail. He was professor of architecture at the

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées 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 ...

from 1877 to 1901. In 1899, he published his two-volume book, ''Histoire de l'architecture''. In it, he developed isometric drawings that combined plan, elevation, section, perspective into a single drawing. He then used this visual approach to describe buildings in social and material terms along with

historical determinism Historical determinism is the stance that events are historically predetermined or currently constrained by various forces. Historical determinism can be understood in contrast to its negation, i.e. the rejection of historical determinism. Some po ...

. In 1904, he won the

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

. Very important for the study of Greek architecture was his contribution "Le pictoresque et l'art grec" (chapter in The history of architecture). Choisy died on September 18, 1909, at age 68, in

Books by Auguste Choisy

* ''L'art de bâtir chez les romains'' 1873 * ''L'Asie Mineure et les Turcs en 1875: Souvenirs de Voyage par Auguste Choisy'' 1876 * ''L'art de bâtir chez les byzantins'' 1883 * ''Etudes épigraphiques sur l'architecture grecque'' 1883 * ''Histoire de l'Architecture'' (''The history of architecture'') 1899 (two volumes) * ''L'Art de bâtir chez les Égyptiens'' 1904 * ''Vitruve 1909''

References

Thierry Mandoul, Entre raison et utopie. L'Histoire de l'architecture d'Auguste Choisy, Wavre, Mardaga, 2008, 320 p.

External links

* *
Biography of Auguste Choisy (in French)

The site for the centenary of Auguste Choisy. It will remain a permanent site for scholars with many relevant text in pdf otherwise out of reach 1841 births 1909 deaths People from Vitry-le-François French art historians French architecture writers French architectural historians French civil engineers Corps des ponts École Polytechnique alumni École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal French male non-fiction writers {{france-art-historian-stub