Xavier Arsène-Henry (10 May 1919 – 19 June 2009) was a French modernist architect and urban planner. He designed many tall residential buildings on the outskirts of French cities. Zupnordvaldegour

Early life

Xavier Arsène-Henry was born on 10 May 1919 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, France.Xavier Arsène-Henry (1919-2009)

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

Xavier Arsène-Henry
''

Structurae Structurae is an online database containing pictures and information about structural engineering, structural and civil engineering works, and their associated engineers, architects, and builders. Overview Structurae was founded in 1998 by Nico ...

Career

He was a proponent of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

. In 1960, he designed a church, Église Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, located at 1 Place Mozart on the in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

.Architecte / Maître d'œuvre: Xavier Arsène-Henry
/ref> That same year, he designed three residential tall buildings in Reims: the Tour Berlioz, the Tour Bach, and the Tour Beethoven. He designed similar residential tall buildings in

Montereau-Fault-Yonne Montereau-Fault-Yonne (, before 1992: ''Montereau-Faut-Yonne''), or simply Montereau, is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France ...

a year later, in 1961.Florian Urban, ''Tower and Slab: Histories of Global Mass Housing'', Routledge, 2013, p. 5

/ref> He designed the Tour Blanche, Tour Chartis, also known as the Tour AIG, in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

in 1967.Structurae: Tour Chartis
/ref> A year later, in 1968, he designed the Centrale à béton in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

.Structurae: Centrale à béton
/ref> That same year, he designed the masterplans of on the outskirts of his hometown of Bordeaux.Bernard Gazeau
Cinquante ans pour créer un quartier
'' Sud-Ouest'', 20 September 2009 He designed , a neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, in 1969. Four years later, in 1973, he designed the offices of the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n subsidiary of

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

at 475 in Marseille. He designed two buildings in

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan ...

: Le Galion in 1982 and Le Minerve in 1984. He was a professor at 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 ...

. He was the recipient of the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

from the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

Death

He died on 19 June 2009 in Paris.

Bibliography

*''La ville de l'an 2000'' (revue Études, 1972). *''Notre ville'', Mame, 1969 *''Rentrons, il se fait tard, le long voyage d'un architecte (1919-1998)'' (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1999). *''J'allais oublier de vous dire... : suite du long voyage d'un architecte, 1998-2002'' (Paris, L'Harmattan, 2002). *''Arrêtons nous quelques instants, 3e étape du long voyage d'un architecte (2002-2006)'' (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2006). *''Cap-Ferret : dessins et textes de Xavier Arsène-Henry : 50 ans de dessins'' (Elyte, 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsene-Henry, Xavier 1919 births 2009 deaths Architects from Bordeaux École des Beaux-Arts alumni 20th-century French architects Modernist architects from France French urban planners Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts Prix de Rome for architecture Officers of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite