François Martin Lebrun

François Martin Lebrun (* 1799 in Castres ; † December 9, 1849 ) was a French architect and engineer. He invented the stamped concrete .

origin

François Martin Lebrun was born to Jean-Martin Lebrun. The father was a municipal builder in Castres. Nothing is known about the education of François Martin Lebrun.

Career

François Martin Lebrun initially worked in Castres and Gaillac from 1826 . From 1838 to 1841 he was the " Architecte des communes et des établissements de bienfaisance " of the Tarn-et-Garonne department , and from 1846 until his death in 1849 he was a master builder in the department and oversaw public works.

François Martin Lebrun and his brother, Jean Auguste, who ran a civil engineering company , founded two factories for the production of hydraulic lime in 1829 in Bourret and Montain (Tarn-et-Garonne) . A third factory was later added in Marssac-sur-Tarn , which produced artificial stone . Lebrun combined the traditional technique of the Pisé , in which clay is tamped into formwork, from which walls are built, with a mixture of hydraulic lime, sand and gravel. For the right mix he used the recipe from Louis-Joseph Vicat , which he further developed experimentally. He used this concrete for the first time in the construction of the house for his brother, the Villa Lebrun , in Marssac-sur-Tarn, the first completely concrete building since ancient times . He used concrete on a large scale in the construction of the town hall of Gaillac: the basement of the building, including the vaults, was made of stamped concrete. The town hall is the first modern public building in the world in which this building material has been reused on a large scale. The method was very inexpensive compared to building up a vault. Numerous wine cellars in the area were built using this method and the local MP, Justin de Lacombe, had his new home built on such a cellar. A setback was the construction of the Protestant church in Corbarieu , where the attempt to cover the building with a concrete vault failed.

Work (selection)

Gaillac Town Hall

Evangelical Reformed Church in Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val

• 1828/29: Villa Lebrun in Marssac-sur-Tarn
• From 1833: Gaillac Town Hall
• 1836: Corbarieu Evangelical Church
• Around 1840: Boarding school of the Frères de Marie de Bordeaux in Castelsarrasin
• 1845: Construction management of the restoration of the “Maisom Consulaire” in Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val , a project that he carried out with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc .
• 1846: Extension of the Evangelical Church in Varennes (Tarn-et-Garonne) .
• 1846: Extension of the Evangelical Church in Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. After his death in 1849, Théodore Olivier took over the construction management. The church was not completed until 1882.
• Design of the “Place Royale” (today: Place Jean Jaurès) in Castres. The appearance of the complex was changed from 1869 to 1872 by adding floors to the building;
  • there also in 1837 the market hall
• Numerous smaller school buildings in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, including in
  • Saint-Agnan
  • Castelferrus (1834/35)
• He was also responsible for the maintenance work on the Montauban Cathedral .
• Concrete bridges;
  • 1835 or shortly afterwards at Villemade . The bridge is the oldest concrete bridge in the world.
  • 1835 or shortly after at Castelsarrasin
  • 1840/41: A bridge over a side canal of the Garonne near or in Grisolles
  • A decorative bridge in the garden of Villa Lebrun (preserved).

Honors

• Knight of the Legion of Honor
• Member of the Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie nationale (society for the promotion of national industry).

literature

Works by Lebrun

sorted by year of publication of the French-language fonts

• Practical method for l'emploi du béton . Carilian-Goeury, Paris 1835 ( digitized on Cnum - Conservatoire numérique des Arts et Métiers).
  • About the use of stone mortar in various buildings. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 62, 1836, Miszelle 7, p. 155.
  • The stone mortar . Nübling, Ulm 1837 ( full text in the Google book search).
• Traité pratique de l'art de bâtir en béton, ou Résumé des connaissances actuelles sur la nature et les propriétés des mortiers hydrauliques et bétons; et exposition des procédés à suivre pour employer cette espèce de maçonnerie, en remplacement de toute autre, dans les travaux publics et dans les constructions particulières . Carilian-Goeury et V. Dalmont, Paris 1843 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  • Practical treatise on the art of building with concrete . In: AL Crelle (ed.): Journal for the architecture . tape 19 . G. Reimer, Berlin 1843, p. 135 ( full text in Google Book Search, p. 195 full text in Google Book Search and p. 287 full text in Google Book Search).

Writings on Lebrun

in alphabetical order by authors / editors

• Charles Bauchal: Nouveau dictionnaire biographique et critique des architectes français . A. Daly fils et Cie., Paris 1887, pp. 682f.
• Pascal Forthuny: Bétons et ciments historiques . In: Le béton armé 3/36 (1901), pp. 63–69.
• Gourlier: Rapport fait par M. Gourlier au nom du comité des arts économiques, sur un mémoire de M. Lebrun jeune, architecte à Alby, département du Tarn, relative à l'emploit du béton pour la construction entire d'une maison d ' habitation . In: Bulletin de la Sosiété d'encouragement de l'industrie national 31 (1832), pp. 99-103.
  • Report by Mr. Gourlier on a treatise by Mr. Lebrun the Elder. young., Builder of Alby, Dept. Du Tarn, concerning the use of base or stone mortar (béton) to build entire houses. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 46, 1832, pp. 114-119.
• Romain Rico: François Martin Lebrun (1799-1849) . In: Bulletin de la Société archéologique de Tarn et Garonne 129 (2004), pp. 107-119.
• Ferdinand Werner : François Martin Lebrun and the first concrete house . In: INSITU. Zeitschrift für Architekturgeschichte 8 (1/2016), pp. 75–88.
• Ferdinand Werner: The long way to new building . Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2016. ISBN 978-3-88462-372-5
  • Volume 1: Concrete: 43 men invent the future .
  • Volume 2: cement and artificial stone. The triumph of the imagination .

Web links

• To the church of Corbarieu

Remarks

1. ↑ 1927 profaned and now in private ownership (Werner: The Long Road ., Note 252).
2. ^ 40, Boulevard du 22 Septembre.
3. ↑ This bridge is still standing, spanning the Ruisseau Dagran , which forms the border between the municipalities of Villemade and Piquecos , but is clad with bricks (Werner: The Long Way , p. 78).
4. ↑ This bridge is also preserved (Werner: Der lange Weg ,. 258).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bauchal.
2. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 68.
3. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 68.
4. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 68.
5. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 69.
6. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 78.
7. ↑ Unless otherwise noted, based on Werner: The Long Way , pp. 68ff.
8. ↑ Gourlier, Biet, Grillon, Tardieu: Choix d'éifices publics et PROJETE constuits en France depuis le commencement du XIX ^e siècle . 3 vols. Paris 1825-1850. Volume 2, plate 223.
9. ↑ Werner: The long way , p. 77f.
10. ↑ Gourlier, Biet, Grillon, Tardieu: Choix d'éifices publics et PROJETE constuits en France depuis le commencement du XIX ^e siècle . 3 vols. Paris 1825-1850. Volume 3, Plate 140; Belly al.
11. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 77.
12. ↑ Werner: The Long Way , p. 77.
13. ↑ Bauchal.
14. ↑ Klaus Stiglat: bridges along the way. Early iron and concrete bridges in Germany and France . Ernst, Berlin 1997. ISBN 978-3-433-01299-4
15. ^ Werner: The long way , p. 79f.
16. ↑ The text Practische Abhandlung (see: Literature) contains the subheading: "FM Lebrun, architect, architect of Montauban, knight of the Legion of Honor, member of the Society for the Promotion of People's Industry, etc."
17. ↑ The text Practische Abhandlung (see: Literature) contains the subheading: "FM Lebrun, architect, architect of Montauban, knight of the Legion of Honor, member of the Society for the Promotion of People's Industry, etc."