Customer Reviews

Auguste Perret

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I was first drawn to Auguste Perret when I saw an exhibit of his work in Paris and have since been searching for a book which can convey the beauty of Perret's life work. Although this book has many great pictures, I miss the quality exhibited in the actual renderings. The book however, has much more to offer, and goes into depth about Perret's philosophies, the effects of his work, and his relationship with the infamous Le Corbusier. The style of writing coveys all of this information in an interesting fashion by incoporating specific stories. I particularly loved the cartoon that Corb drew with Perret sitting in front of a ribbon window (the commentary behind it is equally funny if you know architecture). The portion of the book on housing gives to architects a valuable lesson on how a building should not only serve a function but should make the ordinary daily routine much more interesting and enjoyable. I am struck with this quote from the book given by a man living in the pavillion for Madame Mela Muter: "The elements of this house are of such a fashion that to live there is pleasurable. It is pleasurable to open a door, pleasurable to close it, pleasurable to go from one room to another. What is marvellous, is that it remains as pleasurable at the end of two years as on the first day." If only we could learn from the work of Perret, a truly unique and gifted man who stood stubbornly by his vertical Parisian window while the austere architecture of Le Corbusier's strip window took hold of our concept of modern architecture.

A valuable addition to a series of monographs from this publisher. Karla Britton's account of the great French architect-engineer, a master of concrete construction like Breuer, but one who straddled two eras, combining boldly expressed structures with rich surface ornament. The Theatre des Champs Elysees was completed before the first world war, and its "nudity" shocked Parisians as much as the barbaric rhythms of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which provoked a riot when it was premiered here. Now, Perret's masterwork can be seen as a perfect balance of grace and daring--the greatest theater in the city. A couple of apartment blocks were even more ahead of their time, but Perret, like Breuer, stayed around too long and the later work, particularly the rebuilding of Le Havre, diminished his standing. Books of this quality and importance deserve much better production values. The series is overpriced and poorly designed; the bindings are fragile, the illustrations drab, and there is not even a proper title page.