CLAUDE-NICOLAS LEDOUX

-AN ARCHITECT NATIVE TO FRANCE, WAS CONSIDERED AN ORIGINAL

ADVOCATE OF FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE, NOT TO
MENTION A SKILLED PLANNER. THE FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL STYLE
CAN BE DESCRIBED AS DERIVATIVE OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY AS A FORM OF REVIVALISM.
-LEDOUX'S EARLY CAREER INVOLVED DOING A LOT OF RESIDENTIAL
WORK, DESIGNING HOMES FOR AFFLUENT INDIVIDUALS IN FRANCE.
HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS UNIQUE AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN PLANS
AND LEARNED UNDER THE WING OF NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECT
JACQUES FRANCOIS BLONDEL. DURING HIS TIME WITH BLONDEL,
LEDOUX WAS ABLE TO LEARN AND GROW AS A DESIGNER AND
PLANNER. HE WORKED HIS WAY FROM DESIGNING PRIVATE HOMES
TO SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES, AS WELL AS A FEW CLASSICAL STYLE
PROJECTS IN PARIS.
-SOME OF THE OBSERVABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF LEDOUX'S
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE ARE THE USE OF ECCENTRIC FEATURES
AND DORIC ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS. DORIC ELEMENTS EMBODY
THE SPIRIT AND STYLE OF ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. THIS IS APPARENT THROUGH
LEDOUX'S FREQUENT USE OF COLUMNS, ROTUNDAS, TEMPLES, AND PORTICOES IN HIS WORK.
 IDEAL CITY OF CHAUX

IN 1789, DURING THE REVOLUTION AND SPECIFICALLY DURING

HIS IMPRISONMENT, ARCHITECT CLAUDE-NICOLAS
LEDOUX STARTED THE PROJECT FOR THE “IDEAL CITY OF
CHAUX”. TWENTY YEARS BEFORE THAT TIME, IN 1775-1778,
THE ARCHITECT HAD DESIGNED AND BUILT THE ROYAL
SALTWORKS (LES SALINES ROYALES) AT ARC-ET-SENANS IN THE
TERRITORY OF THE MASSIVE FOREST OF CHAUX, IN THE REGION
OF FRANCHE-COMTÉ, A COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS WHICH
WOULD BECOME THE STARTING POINT FOR THE PROJECT OF AN UTOPIAN CITY.
AT THAT TIME, AS SALT WAS AN ESSENTIAL COMMODITY (NECESSARY FOR FOOD PRESERVATION), IT
WAS SUBJECTED TO A HEAVY TAXATION (KNOWN SPECIFICALLY AS THE GABELLE). COLLECTED BY
THE FERME GÉNÉRALE, THE TAX PROVIDED A VALUABLE INCOME FOR THE FRENCH KING.
IN THE REGION OF FRANCHE-COMTÉ, SALT WAS EXTRACTED FROM SALINE WELLS BY VAPORIZING
WATER WITHIN WOOD-FUELLED FURNACES. IN LEDOUX PLAN, THE SALINE IS LOCATED NEAR THE
FOREST, IN ORDER TO EASILY TRANSPORT THE WOOD, WHILE THE SALINE WATER WAS TO BE BROUGHT
TO THE FACTORY BY THE MEANS OF A NEW CANAL.

THE BUILT SALINE WORKS ARE SHAPED IN THE FORM

OF A SEMICIRCULAR OPEN AIR PLAN WITH TEN
FUNCTIONAL BUILDINGS ARRANGED ALONG AN ARC
AND WITH THE DIRECTOR’S HOUSE STANDING AT THE
CENTER. OTHER BUILDINGS HOST THE COOPER’S
FORGE, THE FORGING MILL, THE WORKSHOPS FOR
THE EXTRACTION OF SALT AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE
FUNCTIONS, WHILE TWO OTHER BUILDINGS HOST
THE WORKERS’ HOUSES. EACH BUILDING HAS A
PUBLIC FAÇADE ORIENTED TOWARD THE CENTER,
AND A PRIVATE ONE, WHERE THE WORKERS’
BATHROOMS WERE LOCATED, CONNECTED TO THE VEGETABLE GARDENS.

THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE SITE, AT THE AXIS OF THE

SEMICIRCLE, IS MARKED BY MASSIVE DORIC COLUMNS WHICH
FRAME THE ENTRANCE OF THE DIRECTOR’S HOUSE FROM THE
DISTANCE. THE LANGUAGE DEVELOPED IS A REINTERPRETATION
OF THE CLASSICAL COMBINED WITH ELEMENTS COMPLETELY
INVENTED BY LEDOUX TO SUIT THE INDUSTRIAL NATURE OF THE
BUILDING, LIKE THE MASSIVE RUSTICATED COLUMNS, AND THE
REFERENCES TO LOCAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE FORM OF RUSTIC
ROOFS. SEVERAL DECORATIVE SOLUTIONS PLAY ALLUSION TO THE
ELEMENTS OF WATER AND SALT, LIKE THE “PETRIFIED” WATER
FOUNTAINS ON THE WALLS OR THE CAVERNOUS HALL WHICH
MIMICS AN ACTUAL SALT MINE AND IS FURTHER ORNATED WITH
CONCRETE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FORCES OF NATURE AND
THE ORGANIZING GENIUS OF MAN. THE ROYAL SALTWORKS
CLOSED IN 1790 JUST AFTER THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
THE IDEAL CITY TAKES THE PLAN OF THE SALTWORKS AS A CENTRAL POINT FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT,
EMBODYING AN IDEA OF COMMUNAL LIFE JOINED TO THAT OF A NEW INDUSTRIAL URBANISM. IN THE
“IDEAL CITY OF CHAUX” THE SEMICIRCLE BECOMES A CIRCLE AND THE TEN BUILDINGS OF THE
SALTWORKS ARE COMPLETED BY MANY OTHERS. FOR EACH ONE OF THEM, LEDOUX SET UP A PLAN,
EXPLAINED THEIR FUNCTIONING AND ENGRAVED AN IMAGE. THESE DOCUMENTS WERE TO BE
PUBLISHED AFTERWARD IN HIS TREATY OF ARCHITECTURE, ONLY PARTIALLY COMPLETED IN 1804.

THE CITY FEATURED A NUMBER OF ISOLATED BUILDINGS EACH ONE PLAYING WITH SYMBOLIC
ELEMENTS. (THE CEMETERY, THE TEMPLE, THE HOUSE OF THE FARM GUARDS, THE FARM BUILDINGS,
ETC…). THE DRAWINGS APPEARING IN L’ARCHITECTURE CONSIDÉRÉE SOUS LE RAPPORT DE L’ART, DES
MOEURS ET DE LA LEGISLATION, TOME 1, 1804, ARE BOTH BUILT PROJECTS RELATED TO THE ACTUAL
SALT WORKS AND IMAGINARY BUILDINGS IN THE GENERAL CONTEXT OF THE IDEAL CITY OF CHAUX.
CLAUDE NICOLAS LEDOUX
AND HIS IDEAL CITY OF
CHAUX