Early 18th Century Architecture in Europe: École de Chirurgie of Jacques Gondouin
École de Chirurgie, Jacques Gondouin, (Paris, France);
1769-1774; Early 18th Century
Architecture in Europe
The
building was designed by the architect Jacques Gondouin from 1769 to
1774 after surgery came to be recognized as a specialized discipline in the
medical sciences.
The
people of the time saw surgery as a progressive movement and wanted to be a
part of it, hence why the lectures weren’t only exclusive to the students but
the public’s presence was admitted and encouraged as well.
The
building is currently a part of the Université René Descartes, and is mainly
used as a medical and social sciences building.
The Building
"A monument of the beneficence of the King...which should have the character of magnificence relative to its
function; a school whose fame attracts a great concourse of Pupils from all
nations should appear open and easy of
access. The absolute necessity of
columns to fulfill these two objects, is alone sufficient to protect me
from the reproach of having multiplied them unduly."
Three
wings surround a court acting as circulation for the entire building. Gondouin
placed a screen of Ionic columns along the facades of both the walls facing the
court and the street. Above the main entry arch, lying between the entablature
and the upper cornice on the street façade is an Ionic relief panel. The relief
panel depicts the muse of architecture giving a scroll of the building plan to
the god of medicine.
The
ground floor housed a rectangular theatre for the instruction of midwives, a
chemistry lab, a public hall, a room reserved for students in training for the
army, and a small hospital.
The
second level housed a library for displaying medical instruments, several
lecture rooms, and offices. Gondouin's original plan for the forecourt
also included a civil prison that would have supplied corpses, yet it was never
built.
The Theater
It is
signified on the exterior by a Corinthian portico featuring freestanding columns.
As a purely symbolic temple front, entrance occurs from the sides. Modeled
after the Pantheon, it is lit by an oculus. A coffered ceiling drapes over
the main stage and seating for 1200 spectators.
A semicircular lunette above the main doorway
shows portraits of famous predecessors along with paintings showing the King
encouraging their progress and the gods engaged in transmitting the principles
of anatomy.
The Architect
Jacques Gondouin de Folleville, or simply Gondoin
(1737–1818) was a French architect and designer.
He was born in Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis,
the son of a gardener at the château de Choisy.
The School
of Surgery is Gondouin’s only known work in architecture, apart of the monument Colonne Vendôme (1806–1810) to
the glory of the Grande Armée, place Vendôme, whih was inspired the
Traian Column in Rome.
Style & Typology
The school is a prime example of neo-classical
architecture in France.
Gondouin’s
Ecole de Chirurgie changed the hôtel typology by building in the style for a
public building versus a private house.
Sources
Brahan,
Allen (1989). The Architecture of the French Enlightenment. University
of California Press, 137-145.
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