Project
AP178.S1.1993.PR07
Description:
This project series documents the Faculdade de Ciências da Informação in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. While the records were held in the office’s archives this project was assigned the number 41/90. The office assigned the date 1993 to this project. The Faculty is located on the north campus of the University of Santiago de Compostela, on the Burgo das Nacións Avenue. The building is divided in two sections, one with three stories and the other with two stories. The upper floor is for nine amphitheater classrooms and the lower floors are for the media laboratories and studios. The building also includes an atrium, a library, studios, and media laboratories. The project was realized and is now named the Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación. Documenting this project are sketches, studies, working drawings, structural drawings, technical drawings, and mechanical drawings. Textual material includes project documentation and correspondence. Photographic material documents the models, construction work, the built project, and furniture.
1993-2000
Faculdade de Ciências da Informação [Faculty of Communication Sciences], Santiago de Compostela, Spain (1993)
Actions:
AP178.S1.1993.PR07
Description:
This project series documents the Faculdade de Ciências da Informação in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. While the records were held in the office’s archives this project was assigned the number 41/90. The office assigned the date 1993 to this project. The Faculty is located on the north campus of the University of Santiago de Compostela, on the Burgo das Nacións Avenue. The building is divided in two sections, one with three stories and the other with two stories. The upper floor is for nine amphitheater classrooms and the lower floors are for the media laboratories and studios. The building also includes an atrium, a library, studios, and media laboratories. The project was realized and is now named the Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación. Documenting this project are sketches, studies, working drawings, structural drawings, technical drawings, and mechanical drawings. Textual material includes project documentation and correspondence. Photographic material documents the models, construction work, the built project, and furniture.
Project
1993-2000
14 April 2022, 7pm
DR1974:0002:003:001-105
Description:
- This album consists primarily of design development drawings and the architect's copies of the working drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff. The hôtel consisted of a single rectangular pavilion with a central porte cochère and a rear courtyard with an outbuilding. The principal façade facing rue Saint-Arnaud (now rue Volney) and the interior were lavishly decorated. The structure of the hôtel consisted of load-bearing masonry combined with cast-iron columns, iron beams, and interior wood framing. The exterior was finished with cut stone. The album contains plans, elevations, details and sections, and full-scale drawings of the architectural elements, ornamentation, as well as joinery. Many of the drawings and transfer lithographs are inscribed with both the date of the drawing/original and the date of contract. Revisions, which are also often dated, have been made either directly on the drawing or on pieces of paper attached to the sheets. Inscriptions indicate that in some cases these revisions were added after the construction of the building. Also included are preliminary drawings (DR1974:0002:003:028 R/V), and detailed interior views, some of which are partially coloured with watercolour (DR1974:0002:003:049, DR1974:0002:003:069, DR1974:0002:003:078). The drawings and transfer lithographs have been grouped, possibly by the compiler of the album, according to the part of the building represented, and by the type of construction: stonework, woodwork, framework, and ironwork. Unbound material inserted into the album includes four large unbound full-scale preliminary sketches for architectural ornament, possibly for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:061 - DR1974:0002:003:064) and two drawings for a terrace and staircase, apparently not for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:003 and DR1974:0002:003:042).
architecture
1854-1858, printed 1854-1858
Album of prints and drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff, rue Saint-Arnaud, Paris
Actions:
DR1974:0002:003:001-105
Description:
- This album consists primarily of design development drawings and the architect's copies of the working drawings for Hôtel Soltykoff. The hôtel consisted of a single rectangular pavilion with a central porte cochère and a rear courtyard with an outbuilding. The principal façade facing rue Saint-Arnaud (now rue Volney) and the interior were lavishly decorated. The structure of the hôtel consisted of load-bearing masonry combined with cast-iron columns, iron beams, and interior wood framing. The exterior was finished with cut stone. The album contains plans, elevations, details and sections, and full-scale drawings of the architectural elements, ornamentation, as well as joinery. Many of the drawings and transfer lithographs are inscribed with both the date of the drawing/original and the date of contract. Revisions, which are also often dated, have been made either directly on the drawing or on pieces of paper attached to the sheets. Inscriptions indicate that in some cases these revisions were added after the construction of the building. Also included are preliminary drawings (DR1974:0002:003:028 R/V), and detailed interior views, some of which are partially coloured with watercolour (DR1974:0002:003:049, DR1974:0002:003:069, DR1974:0002:003:078). The drawings and transfer lithographs have been grouped, possibly by the compiler of the album, according to the part of the building represented, and by the type of construction: stonework, woodwork, framework, and ironwork. Unbound material inserted into the album includes four large unbound full-scale preliminary sketches for architectural ornament, possibly for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:061 - DR1974:0002:003:064) and two drawings for a terrace and staircase, apparently not for Hôtel Soltykoff (DR1974:0002:003:003 and DR1974:0002:003:042).
architecture
articles
New Society
New Society
Giovanna Borasi and Sam Chermayeff introduce our exhibition A Section of Now
Actions:
A Social Reset
Project
House, Selsdon
AP144.S2.D42
Description:
File documents an unexecuted project for a detached private residence located at Beech Way in Selsdon, Surrey, (now Croydon, part of Greater London), England, for Jean Newlove (Mrs. Jean McColl). The local planning authority refused the project citing aesthetic considerations. The house was to be constructed as a "series of interleaved reinforced concrete trays" supported by columns ("Cedric Price Supplement No. 2", 'Architectural Design', vol. 41, (January 1971), 36). File contains conceptual and design development sketches that explore exterior elevations, stair and glazing details; axonometric drawings and sections that show relationship between floor levels and functions; and framing plans showing the preliminary structural layout. Material in this file was produced between 1962 and 1964. File contains conceptual drawings, design development drawings, presentation drawings, photographic materials, and textual records.
1962-1964
House, Selsdon
Actions:
AP144.S2.D42
Description:
File documents an unexecuted project for a detached private residence located at Beech Way in Selsdon, Surrey, (now Croydon, part of Greater London), England, for Jean Newlove (Mrs. Jean McColl). The local planning authority refused the project citing aesthetic considerations. The house was to be constructed as a "series of interleaved reinforced concrete trays" supported by columns ("Cedric Price Supplement No. 2", 'Architectural Design', vol. 41, (January 1971), 36). File contains conceptual and design development sketches that explore exterior elevations, stair and glazing details; axonometric drawings and sections that show relationship between floor levels and functions; and framing plans showing the preliminary structural layout. Material in this file was produced between 1962 and 1964. File contains conceptual drawings, design development drawings, presentation drawings, photographic materials, and textual records.
File 42
1962-1964
Project
IBA
AP143.S4.D32
Description:
File documents the partially executed project for the Restricted International Competition "South Friedrichstadt as a Place to Live and Work," West Berlin (now Berlin), West Germany (now in Germany). Material in this file was produced between 1980 and 1988. File documents the design for one of four urban blocks in the area of the Kochstrasse and Friedrichstrasse, Berlin. The competition required the preservation of three existing structures and the construction of mixed-used buildings on vacant lots. The architect develops an overall strategy to occupy the urban block by extending the geometry of the three existing buildings onto the site (DR1991:0018:002; DR1991:0018:004-006), on which he overlays what he calls the "Mercator grid", an orthogonal grid oriented according to the compass (DR1991:0018:016). The "el structures" used by Eisenman in House X, House 11a, and the Cannaregio project reappear in plan, and later as forms emerging from the square compartments delimited by the "Mercator grid", this time developed three-dimensionally (House X, 1975-1977, DR1994:0138:001-1546; House 11a, 1978, DR1994:0139:001-303; Cannaregio project, 1978, DR1991:0017:001-094). After finalizing the urban concept, Eisenman concentrates his efforts on the planning of individual buildings, developing the massing of the building facing Kochstrasse in a series of axonometrics (DR1991:0018:088-092), sections (DR1991:0018:088) and facade studies (DR1991:0018:204-210). A series of scrolled drawings study the L-shaped elements and thin slabs with characteristically gridded surfaces found in House X (DR1991:0018:204 and DR1991:0018:209-210). File contains record drawings, conceptual drawings, design development drawings, schematic drawings, competition drawings, presentation drawings, photographic material, and textual records.
1980-1988
IBA
Actions:
AP143.S4.D32
Description:
File documents the partially executed project for the Restricted International Competition "South Friedrichstadt as a Place to Live and Work," West Berlin (now Berlin), West Germany (now in Germany). Material in this file was produced between 1980 and 1988. File documents the design for one of four urban blocks in the area of the Kochstrasse and Friedrichstrasse, Berlin. The competition required the preservation of three existing structures and the construction of mixed-used buildings on vacant lots. The architect develops an overall strategy to occupy the urban block by extending the geometry of the three existing buildings onto the site (DR1991:0018:002; DR1991:0018:004-006), on which he overlays what he calls the "Mercator grid", an orthogonal grid oriented according to the compass (DR1991:0018:016). The "el structures" used by Eisenman in House X, House 11a, and the Cannaregio project reappear in plan, and later as forms emerging from the square compartments delimited by the "Mercator grid", this time developed three-dimensionally (House X, 1975-1977, DR1994:0138:001-1546; House 11a, 1978, DR1994:0139:001-303; Cannaregio project, 1978, DR1991:0017:001-094). After finalizing the urban concept, Eisenman concentrates his efforts on the planning of individual buildings, developing the massing of the building facing Kochstrasse in a series of axonometrics (DR1991:0018:088-092), sections (DR1991:0018:088) and facade studies (DR1991:0018:204-210). A series of scrolled drawings study the L-shaped elements and thin slabs with characteristically gridded surfaces found in House X (DR1991:0018:204 and DR1991:0018:209-210). File contains record drawings, conceptual drawings, design development drawings, schematic drawings, competition drawings, presentation drawings, photographic material, and textual records.
File 32
1980-1988
Project
AP056.S1.1992.PR02
Description:
This project series documents the federal women's prison in Kitchener, Ontario, now called The Grand Valley Institution for Women, from 1992-1994. The office identified the project number as 9227. This project, built for Public Works Canada and Correctional Services Canada, consisted of a large, main prison building with nine small cottages lining the property. The main building included the admission and discharge area, food services, recreation spaces and spirituality centre, as well as an area for prisoners requiring enhanced security. The spirituality room was a window-rimmed rotunda that pierced the slanted roof of the main stucco building. The smaller cottages were wood-sided with aluminum windows and could house eight people. While many were built to house eight prisoners, some designs replaced prisoner's rooms with children's bedrooms for inmates who had children staying with them. There was also a large, green space in the centre of all the buildings, with plans to build a baseball diamond, daycare building and an additional cottage in the future. The project is recorded through drawings dating from1992-1995. The drawings and mostly originals and include site surveys, sketches, plans, elevations, sections, perspectives, details and axonometric drawings.
1992-1995
Regional Facility for Federally Sentenced Women, Kitchener, Ontario (1992-1994)
Actions:
AP056.S1.1992.PR02
Description:
This project series documents the federal women's prison in Kitchener, Ontario, now called The Grand Valley Institution for Women, from 1992-1994. The office identified the project number as 9227. This project, built for Public Works Canada and Correctional Services Canada, consisted of a large, main prison building with nine small cottages lining the property. The main building included the admission and discharge area, food services, recreation spaces and spirituality centre, as well as an area for prisoners requiring enhanced security. The spirituality room was a window-rimmed rotunda that pierced the slanted roof of the main stucco building. The smaller cottages were wood-sided with aluminum windows and could house eight people. While many were built to house eight prisoners, some designs replaced prisoner's rooms with children's bedrooms for inmates who had children staying with them. There was also a large, green space in the centre of all the buildings, with plans to build a baseball diamond, daycare building and an additional cottage in the future. The project is recorded through drawings dating from1992-1995. The drawings and mostly originals and include site surveys, sketches, plans, elevations, sections, perspectives, details and axonometric drawings.
Project
1992-1995
Project
Mr. and Mrs. F.Y. McCutcheon Residence, Additions and Alterations, Gormley, Ontario (1981-1982)
AP018.S1.1981.PR12
Description:
This project series documents additions and alterations to the McCutcheon Residence in Gormley, Ontario (now Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario) from 1981-1982. The office identified the project number as 8112. This project consisted primarily of a large addition onto the east side of the existing brick house. The first part of the addition, attached directly onto the existing house, was two storeys to match the original, and contained the master bedroom and sitting room on the second floor, a large kitchen with walk-in pantry and dining area on the main floor, and storage in the basement. The second part of the addition ran perpendicular to the rest of the house, attached to the new kitchen, and was one storey. It contained the staff quarters at the front of the house, and two garages at the back, including one for skidoos and tractors. Alterations to the current home were also made, including the removal of the patio at the back of the home and of the walls that enclosed the existing pool and kitchen. The addition used similar materials to the existing home, which included cedar shingles, brick walls, and copper roofing over the windows. The project is recorded through drawings, photographic materials and textual records dating from 1981-1982. The drawings consist of sketches, floor and site plans, elevations, sections, and mechanical, electrical and structural drawings. Drawings of the existing home are also present. The photographs are of aerial views of the house and surrounding area and textual records consist of contractor documentation.
1981-1982
Mr. and Mrs. F.Y. McCutcheon Residence, Additions and Alterations, Gormley, Ontario (1981-1982)
Actions:
AP018.S1.1981.PR12
Description:
This project series documents additions and alterations to the McCutcheon Residence in Gormley, Ontario (now Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario) from 1981-1982. The office identified the project number as 8112. This project consisted primarily of a large addition onto the east side of the existing brick house. The first part of the addition, attached directly onto the existing house, was two storeys to match the original, and contained the master bedroom and sitting room on the second floor, a large kitchen with walk-in pantry and dining area on the main floor, and storage in the basement. The second part of the addition ran perpendicular to the rest of the house, attached to the new kitchen, and was one storey. It contained the staff quarters at the front of the house, and two garages at the back, including one for skidoos and tractors. Alterations to the current home were also made, including the removal of the patio at the back of the home and of the walls that enclosed the existing pool and kitchen. The addition used similar materials to the existing home, which included cedar shingles, brick walls, and copper roofing over the windows. The project is recorded through drawings, photographic materials and textual records dating from 1981-1982. The drawings consist of sketches, floor and site plans, elevations, sections, and mechanical, electrical and structural drawings. Drawings of the existing home are also present. The photographs are of aerial views of the house and surrounding area and textual records consist of contractor documentation.
Project
1981-1982
Project
AP056.S1.1987.PR02
Description:
This project series documents a competition entry for the design of Ottawa City Hall in Ottawa, Ontario from 1987-1988. The office identified the project number as 8711. This competition for Ottawa's new city hall called for a contemporary building that would integrate the old city hall, originally built in the 1950s and located on Green Island in the Rideau Canal. Set between Sussex Drive and Union Street, this project consisted of 1 building with 6 distinct parts: the old office building, the new office building, the City Room, the Council Chamber, the podium, and the daycare centre. The old office building was the original modernist-style city hall that would now serve as office spaces for civic workers. It would be renovated to create better circulation with the new extension. The new office building, serving a similar function, would sit behind the old one to create an L-shape on half of the perimeter. It had a large civic tower on one end that would serve as an observation deck. The City Room, a three-storey element in the centre of the structure, had a distinctive roof made up of more than a dozen small pyramids. Whitton Hall would be used as a ceremonial space, the building's lobby, a major central assembly hall, and meeting rooms. The council chambers were located in a self-contained rotunda, which also had press offices on the ground floor. The daycare centre consisted of a rectangular pavilion, set on a diagonal axis from the rest of City Hall. All of these elements sat on a raised podium that had landscaped terraces and gardens around the building's exterior. The terrace offered stunning views of the Ottawa cityscape across the canal. The podium contained one level of parking, with two additional levels below ground. This project was conceptualized to have two distinct fronts, one with its formal address on Sussex Drive that had a ceremonial entrance called the Plaza of Nations, and one off Union Street beneath the podium and underneath the Peace Bell. KPMB's entry proposed a building that would integrate with the existing system of green parks and walkways already present on the island. However, this was not the winning design for the competition and the project was eventually realized by architect Moshe Safdie. This project is recorded through drawings, photographs, a model and watercolour paintings dating from 1987-1988. The drawings are mostly originals and include sketches, surveys and site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, perspectives and axonometrics of the design. There are also a number of presentation panels that show the final competition submission with short texts about the design intention and construction phasing. The watercolours present the building's exterior and photographs show different views of the project model.
1987-1988
Ottawa City Hall Competition, Ontario (1987-1988)
Actions:
AP056.S1.1987.PR02
Description:
This project series documents a competition entry for the design of Ottawa City Hall in Ottawa, Ontario from 1987-1988. The office identified the project number as 8711. This competition for Ottawa's new city hall called for a contemporary building that would integrate the old city hall, originally built in the 1950s and located on Green Island in the Rideau Canal. Set between Sussex Drive and Union Street, this project consisted of 1 building with 6 distinct parts: the old office building, the new office building, the City Room, the Council Chamber, the podium, and the daycare centre. The old office building was the original modernist-style city hall that would now serve as office spaces for civic workers. It would be renovated to create better circulation with the new extension. The new office building, serving a similar function, would sit behind the old one to create an L-shape on half of the perimeter. It had a large civic tower on one end that would serve as an observation deck. The City Room, a three-storey element in the centre of the structure, had a distinctive roof made up of more than a dozen small pyramids. Whitton Hall would be used as a ceremonial space, the building's lobby, a major central assembly hall, and meeting rooms. The council chambers were located in a self-contained rotunda, which also had press offices on the ground floor. The daycare centre consisted of a rectangular pavilion, set on a diagonal axis from the rest of City Hall. All of these elements sat on a raised podium that had landscaped terraces and gardens around the building's exterior. The terrace offered stunning views of the Ottawa cityscape across the canal. The podium contained one level of parking, with two additional levels below ground. This project was conceptualized to have two distinct fronts, one with its formal address on Sussex Drive that had a ceremonial entrance called the Plaza of Nations, and one off Union Street beneath the podium and underneath the Peace Bell. KPMB's entry proposed a building that would integrate with the existing system of green parks and walkways already present on the island. However, this was not the winning design for the competition and the project was eventually realized by architect Moshe Safdie. This project is recorded through drawings, photographs, a model and watercolour paintings dating from 1987-1988. The drawings are mostly originals and include sketches, surveys and site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, perspectives and axonometrics of the design. There are also a number of presentation panels that show the final competition submission with short texts about the design intention and construction phasing. The watercolours present the building's exterior and photographs show different views of the project model.
Project
1987-1988
Sub-series
CI001.S2.D5
Description:
Charles Rohault de Fleury was architect for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1833 to 1862. His work for the Muséum is represented in the CCA collection by a diverse group of prints and drawings. In addition to documenting his built and unbuilt projects, the inclusion of prints and drawings of museum and zoo buildings by other architects record, if only partially, the resources available to Charles in designing his buildings. This reference material provides insight into the influences on Charles' work as well as the nature of the design process itself. His built works, with the exception of the 1854 addition to the greenhouses, are illustrated in a book of prints with a brief accompanying text - "Muséum d'histoire naturelle: serres chaudes, galeries de minéralogie, etc. etc." (published 1837) (DR1974:0002:004:001; a second copy is held by the CCA library) (1). While prints are included for the Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie, the monkey house and the reservoirs, the majority of the prints are of the greenhouses (serres chaudes) begun 1833 (2). Known for their technological innovations in iron construction, these greenhouses utilized the first multi-storey load-bearing cast-iron façades for the central pavilions as well as space frame roof structures and prefabricated parts. This structural system is well documented in the prints in the CCA collection. The design was apparently inspired by the English greenhouses - a plate of which are included in the book - that Charles saw on a tour of England. The use of prestressed beams and curved roofs in the lateral wings attest to this influence. Charles' greenhouses, in turn, influenced the design of other greenhouses in Europe especially those at the Jardins Botanique in Liège and Ghent, Belgium (3). Although Joseph Paxton saw the greenhouses in 1833, it is unclear if they had an impact on the design of the Crystal Palace constructed 1850-1851 (4). The innovations of Charles' greenhouses continued to be acknowledged into the 20th century. Giedion in "Space, Time and Architecture", while erroneously attributing them to Rouhault (5)(6), refers to the greenhouses as "the prototype of all large iron-framed conservatories" (7). In addition to the greenhouses for the Muséum, the CCA collection includes three proposals (dated 1841) for a private greenhouse designed by Charles Rohault de Fleury (DR1974:0002:002:008 - DR1974:0002:002:013). The designs utilize the same curved roofs as the wings of the greenhouses at the Muséum combined with classically detailed stonework. An different aspect of Charles' work for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle is represented in the album of unexecuted proposals -the only design drawings for the Muséum in the collection - for a Galerie de zoologie (DR1974:0002:024:001-079). Building on the typology of his earlier classical Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie (constructed 1833 -1841), the proposals, which date from between 1838 and 1862, illustrate a gradual enrichment of Charles' classical architectural vocabulary (8). They vary in their spatial configurations and façade treatments ranging from austere colonnaded designs with little ornament to more elaborate ones with richly encrusted facades, complex rooflines and more dramatic interior spaces characteristic of the Second Empire. The majority of the proposals consist of preliminary drawings illustrating the essential formal, spatial and ornamental aspects of the building. One proposal, dated January 1846, is substantially more developed than the others; in addition to general plans, sections and elevations, more detailed drawings are included for the layout of spaces, the elaboration of the facades, the configuration of the structure and even the designs for the specimen display cases. It is also worth noting that this album includes several plans outlining Rohault de Fleury's ideas for the overall development of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. In 1846, an album of prints of the Museo di fiscia e storia naturelle in Florence (DR1974:0002:005:001-018) was presented to Charles by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in response to his request for tracings of that building. These prints were probably used as reference material for the design of the new Galerie de zoologie described above. The portfolio of record drawings (ca. 1862) of the zoos in Antwerp, Brussels, Marseille and Amsterdam (DR1974:0002:018:001-027) is probably a dummy for a publication on zoological gardens as well as background documentation for the renovation and expansion of the zoo at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Both drawings of the facilities for the animals and visitors and general plans of the zoological gardens are included. The Paris zoo project was apparently never undertaken. (1) These prints were reused in the "Oeuvre de C. Rohault de Fleury, architecte" (published 1884) (DR1974:0002:029:001-044). (2) Rohault de Fleury's greenhouses were destroyed in the Prussian bombardments of 1870. The greenhouses, which now stand in their place, are similar in layout and appearance to the original design, but their structural system is different. (3) John Hix, 'The Glass House' (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1981), p. 115. (4) Ibid., p. 115. (5) This error has been repeated by other authors including Henry-Russell Hitchcock, 'Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1968), p. 120. (6) Leonardo Benevolo, 'History of Modern Architecture' Volume 1: The tradition of modern architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1971), p. 22. (7) Sigfried Giedion, 'Space, Time and Architecture; the growth of a new tradition' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941), p. 181. (8) Barry Bergdoll, "Charles Rohault de Fleury: Part two: Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and Studies on analogous Constructions in Europe", 'CCA Research Report", n.d., p. 1.
[1837-ca. 1862]
Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle
CI001.S2.D5
Description:
Charles Rohault de Fleury was architect for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1833 to 1862. His work for the Muséum is represented in the CCA collection by a diverse group of prints and drawings. In addition to documenting his built and unbuilt projects, the inclusion of prints and drawings of museum and zoo buildings by other architects record, if only partially, the resources available to Charles in designing his buildings. This reference material provides insight into the influences on Charles' work as well as the nature of the design process itself. His built works, with the exception of the 1854 addition to the greenhouses, are illustrated in a book of prints with a brief accompanying text - "Muséum d'histoire naturelle: serres chaudes, galeries de minéralogie, etc. etc." (published 1837) (DR1974:0002:004:001; a second copy is held by the CCA library) (1). While prints are included for the Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie, the monkey house and the reservoirs, the majority of the prints are of the greenhouses (serres chaudes) begun 1833 (2). Known for their technological innovations in iron construction, these greenhouses utilized the first multi-storey load-bearing cast-iron façades for the central pavilions as well as space frame roof structures and prefabricated parts. This structural system is well documented in the prints in the CCA collection. The design was apparently inspired by the English greenhouses - a plate of which are included in the book - that Charles saw on a tour of England. The use of prestressed beams and curved roofs in the lateral wings attest to this influence. Charles' greenhouses, in turn, influenced the design of other greenhouses in Europe especially those at the Jardins Botanique in Liège and Ghent, Belgium (3). Although Joseph Paxton saw the greenhouses in 1833, it is unclear if they had an impact on the design of the Crystal Palace constructed 1850-1851 (4). The innovations of Charles' greenhouses continued to be acknowledged into the 20th century. Giedion in "Space, Time and Architecture", while erroneously attributing them to Rouhault (5)(6), refers to the greenhouses as "the prototype of all large iron-framed conservatories" (7). In addition to the greenhouses for the Muséum, the CCA collection includes three proposals (dated 1841) for a private greenhouse designed by Charles Rohault de Fleury (DR1974:0002:002:008 - DR1974:0002:002:013). The designs utilize the same curved roofs as the wings of the greenhouses at the Muséum combined with classically detailed stonework. An different aspect of Charles' work for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle is represented in the album of unexecuted proposals -the only design drawings for the Muséum in the collection - for a Galerie de zoologie (DR1974:0002:024:001-079). Building on the typology of his earlier classical Galerie de minéralogie et de géologie (constructed 1833 -1841), the proposals, which date from between 1838 and 1862, illustrate a gradual enrichment of Charles' classical architectural vocabulary (8). They vary in their spatial configurations and façade treatments ranging from austere colonnaded designs with little ornament to more elaborate ones with richly encrusted facades, complex rooflines and more dramatic interior spaces characteristic of the Second Empire. The majority of the proposals consist of preliminary drawings illustrating the essential formal, spatial and ornamental aspects of the building. One proposal, dated January 1846, is substantially more developed than the others; in addition to general plans, sections and elevations, more detailed drawings are included for the layout of spaces, the elaboration of the facades, the configuration of the structure and even the designs for the specimen display cases. It is also worth noting that this album includes several plans outlining Rohault de Fleury's ideas for the overall development of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. In 1846, an album of prints of the Museo di fiscia e storia naturelle in Florence (DR1974:0002:005:001-018) was presented to Charles by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in response to his request for tracings of that building. These prints were probably used as reference material for the design of the new Galerie de zoologie described above. The portfolio of record drawings (ca. 1862) of the zoos in Antwerp, Brussels, Marseille and Amsterdam (DR1974:0002:018:001-027) is probably a dummy for a publication on zoological gardens as well as background documentation for the renovation and expansion of the zoo at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Both drawings of the facilities for the animals and visitors and general plans of the zoological gardens are included. The Paris zoo project was apparently never undertaken. (1) These prints were reused in the "Oeuvre de C. Rohault de Fleury, architecte" (published 1884) (DR1974:0002:029:001-044). (2) Rohault de Fleury's greenhouses were destroyed in the Prussian bombardments of 1870. The greenhouses, which now stand in their place, are similar in layout and appearance to the original design, but their structural system is different. (3) John Hix, 'The Glass House' (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1981), p. 115. (4) Ibid., p. 115. (5) This error has been repeated by other authors including Henry-Russell Hitchcock, 'Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1968), p. 120. (6) Leonardo Benevolo, 'History of Modern Architecture' Volume 1: The tradition of modern architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1971), p. 22. (7) Sigfried Giedion, 'Space, Time and Architecture; the growth of a new tradition' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941), p. 181. (8) Barry Bergdoll, "Charles Rohault de Fleury: Part two: Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and Studies on analogous Constructions in Europe", 'CCA Research Report", n.d., p. 1.
File 5
[1837-ca. 1862]