André Granet (born

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

6 May 1881: died 27 October 1974) was a French architect who also specialized in organizing and designing major exhibitions. In addition he manifested a passion for aviation.

Architecture

André Granet, the architect:
Some of his better known commissions

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

Atrium Casino Atrium Casino is the name of the casino at Dax in the south-west of France. It is listed under the relevant legislation as an historical building. Origins In 1925 the local mayor, Eugène Milliès-Lacroix, proposed the construction of a casin ...

* Hôtel Splendid * "''La Villa Florentine''" built at

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

for M. Trussy (1905) *

Gnome et Rhône Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensee ...

factory at

Gennevilliers Gennevilliers () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. History On 9 April 1929, ...

(1906-1913)

André Granet practiced as an architect in France between 1905 and 1971, working for the first part of his career alongside his father, the architect Louis Granet. Granet worked on numerous public buildings and "national palaces". He was a high-profile practitioner of

Art Deco architecture Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...

in France.

Passionate about aviation

Passionate about aviation, with

Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian K ...

(1881-1957) he founded the "Air Locomotion Manufacturers' Association" (''"Association des Industriels de la Locomotion Aérienne"''), forerunner of

GIFAS The Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (abbreviated GIFAS) is the French Aerospace Industries Association created in 1908, featuring more than 420 members. The first name of the association was ''Association des Indu ...

."Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales" With Esnault-Pelterie he instigated the first "Exhibition of Aerial Locomotion" which took place, in Paris, at the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

in 1909, and which became the forerunner of the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

. For many years he would be responsible for commissioning the exhibits and contributed to the staging of the air shows.

Paris Motor Show

For many years, starting in 1909, Granet was responsible for the interior design of the Grand Palais for the

Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...

. He contributed a varied succession of lighting and signage, reflecting advances in the relevant technologies.

Eiffel connection

In 1922 he married a grand daughter of

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

, and was thereafter commissioned for arranging a succession of displays and illuminations involving the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

, most notably for the 1937 Paris EXPO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granet, Andre 1881 births 1974 deaths Architects from Paris 20th-century French architects