Léon-Emile Bazin (1900–1976) was a French architect.
Life
Léon-Emile Bazin was born in
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland, in 1900.
In 1915 he joined the firm of
Henri Prost, where he met
Albert Laprade and
Joseph Marrast.
In 1923 he enrolled in the
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École or Ecole 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
The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...
, and graduated in 1930.
In 1925 Bazin entered into a partnership with Albert Laprade that lasted until 1936.
Bazin won a competition in 1929 for the Porte d'Honneur of the 1931
Paris Colonial Exposition
The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...
,
although only after accepting many modifications suggested by the jury.
Bazin collaborated on many of Laprade's projects.
These included the garage on Rue Marbeuf, which won much praise internationally, the ''Écho du Nord'' building in
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
and the
Palais de la Porte Dorée
The Palais de la Porte Dorée (, literally ''Palace of the Golden Gate'') is an exhibit hall located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes at 293, avenue Daumesnil, 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. It now houses the Musée de l'Histoire de ...
for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition.
Louis Bouquet created a painting named ''Souvenir du Musée des Colonies'' that depicts the men who worked on the Palais de la Porte Dorée: Laprade and Bazin, Bouquet himself, the sculptor
Alfred Janniot and the interior decorator
Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann. The painting also includes an anonymous black woman wearing only a skirt, resembling
Josephine Baker
Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...
, who represents the indigenous colonial people.
Bazin worked with Laprade on the competition for the
Génissiat Dam
The Génissiat Dam ( French: ''Barrage de Génissiat'') is a hydroelectric dam on the Rhône in France near the village of Injoux-Génissiat.
Construction began in 1937, but was delayed by World War II, and the dam did not start generating power ...
.
Bazin left Leprade in 1936 to form his own agency.
However, Laprade and Bazin worked together to design the Peace Monument in the
Place du Trocadero for the 1937
. They also collaborated on the pavilion for diffusion of the French language and the pavilion and garden of Iraq.
Bazin was appointed chief architect for reconstruction of the
Loiret
Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434. department in 1941.
After the liberation of France in 1944 he was reappointed to this position, and in 1950 became consulting architect to
Loiret
Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434. and
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...
.
In 1947 he became consultant architect for
Électricité de France
Électricité de France SA (; ), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational corporation, multinational electric utility company owned by the government of France. Headquartered in Paris, with €139.7 billion in sales in 2023, EDF ope ...
and the
Compagnie Nationale du Rhône and in this role undertook a number of power plants.
He was appointed chief architect of civilian buildings and national monuments in 1959,
and was attached to the Museum of African and Oceanic Art at the Palais de la Porte Dorée he had helped to build with Laprade.
Following
Louis Arretche he worked on the reconstruction of
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany.
The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...
, the housing estate at Melun and the new city of
Orléans-La Source.
Léon-Emile Bazin died in Paris in 1976 .
Works
Solo projects are listed below. He also worked with Albert Laprade on many projects in the 1930s.
*1946-1947: creation of the "Maison Grames" in the experimental subdivision "Cité de Merlan" in
Noisy-le-Sec
Noisy-le-Sec () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
Population
Heraldry
Transport
Noisy-le-Sec is served by Noisy-le-Sec station on Paris RER line E.
Education
Schools:< ...
, Seine-Saint-Denis (House with steel structure and steel panels)
*1957: development of the area around the hydroelectric plant of
Montélimar
Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; ) is a town in the Drôme Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the second-largest town in t ...
for the
Compagnie Nationale du Rhône
*1957: Building at 57 Avenue Reille in the
14th arrondissement of Paris
The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory"; named after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, ...
*1959-1968: quarter of the
Gare d'Orléans (administrative center, Pasteur housing complex and Chapel)
*1962-1976: chief architect of the priority development area of Almont in
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the ÃŽle-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
, Seine-et-Marne (3129 units)
*1968: Development of the chute of the power station at
Bourg-lès-Valence
Bourg-lès-Valence (; ) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is a suburb of Valence. The archaeologist and Hellenist Fernand Courby (1878–1932) was born in Bourg-lès-Valence.
In 2014–2019, Bourg-lès-Valence ...
for the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône
*1973: Building of the Department of Studies and Research of EDF in
Clamart
Clamart () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
The town is divided into two parts, separated by a forest: ''bas Clamart'', the historical centre, and ''petit Clamart'' with urban ...
, Hauts-de-Seine
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazin, Leon
1900 births
1976 deaths
People from Lausanne
20th-century French architects
École des Beaux-Arts alumni