Victor Louis (10 May 1731, Paris – 2 July 1800, Paris) was a French

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 ...

, disqualified on a technicality from winning the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in architecture in 1755.

Life

He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris. He did not adopt the name Victor until after he returned from a trip to Poland in 1765. In 1770 he married the pianist and composer Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon. They had a daughter, Marie-Hélène-Victoire, in 1774. A full biography of Victor Louis was published by Charles Marionneau in Bordeaux in 1881.

Work

Louis' masterpiece is the

Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux is an opera house in Bordeaux, France, first inaugurated on 17 April 1780. It was in this theatre that the ballet ''La fille mal gardée'' premiered in 1789, and where a young Marius Petipa staged some of his firs ...

of 1780. He also designed other theatres, including the

Salle Richelieu The Salle Richelieu () is the principal theatre of the Comédie-Française. It is located in the Palais-Royal in the first arrondissement of Paris and was originally constructed in 1786–1790 to the designs of the architect Victor Louis.Wild ...

on the

rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Haussman ...

(1790, later to become the home of the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

) and the Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi (1793, demolished). The Salle Richelieu was the first major building with a roof structure of iron which was selected for its fire-resistant qualities when compared with wood. Other buildings include the Intendance in Besançon (completed 1776), the garden galleries of the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(1781–1784), the Salle de Beaujolais (1782–83), and the Château du Bouilh near Bordeaux (1786–1789, unfinished)."Collections Online-Victor Louis"
www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 29 July 2020. (Salle de Beaujolais)

Gallery

File:GrandTheatreBordeaux2.jpg ,

Théâtre de Bordeaux plan au niveau des secondes loges - Marionneau 1881 - Google Books.jpg , Plan of the Théâtre de Bordeaux
(at the level of the second loges) File:Grand escalier de l'opéra de Bordeaux.jpg , Central staircase of the Théâtre de Bordeaux File:Paris Comedie-Francaise exterior.jpg ,

(as designed by Louis) File:Paris Comedie-Francaise.jpg , Auditorium of the
(as designed by Louis) File:Préfecture du Doubs (façade sur jardin) (adjusted).jpg , Intendance,

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...

(garden facade) File:Victor Louis, Design for the Garden Façade of the Palais Royal, 1781.jpg, Design for the garden galleries of the File:Galerie du Beaujolais.JPG , Perspective view of the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal File:Le Bouilh1.JPG , Château of Le Bouilh File:Théâtre des Arts 1791-93 - Auditorium - Mead p50.jpg , Auditorium of the File:Théâtre des Arts 1791-93 - elevation, section, plans - Mead p50.jpg , Architectural drawings of the

Notes

Bibliography

* Ayers, Andrew (2004). ''The Architecture of Paris''. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. . * Braham, Allan (1980). ''The Architecture of the French Enlightenment''. Berkeley: University of California Press. . * Croizier, Laurent; Bourrousse, Luc (2011). ''The Grand-Théâtre of Bordeaux''. Bordeaux: Festin. . * Fletcher, Banister (1961). ''A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method'', 17th edition, edited by R. A. Cordingley. London: The Athlone Press. . 1963 reprint:
Copy
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. * John, Richard (1998). "Louis, Victor ouis-Nicolas in Turner 1998, vol. 19, pp. 725–726. * Lacouture, Jean (1994). ''Le Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, ou L’Opéra des Vendanges'', photographs by Dominique Thillard. Paris: Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites. . * Marionneau, Charles (1881). ''Victor Louis, Architecte du Théâtre de Bordeaux: Sa vie, ses travaux et sa correspondance 1731–1800''. Bordeaux: G. Gounouilho
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.. * Prudent, Henri; Guadet, Paul (1903). ''Les salles de spectacle construites par Victor Louis à Bordeaux, au Palais-Royal et à la place Louvois''. Paris: Librairie de la construction moderne. . * Turner, Jane, editor (1998). ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'', reprinted with minor corrections, 34 volumes. New York: Grove. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis, Victor 1731 births Architects from Paris 1800 deaths 18th-century French architects Prix de Rome for architecture