Michel-Robert Penchaud

Michel-Robert Penchaud

Michel-Robert Penchaud (born December 24, 1772 in Lhommaizé near Poitiers , † December 22, 1832 in Paris ) was a French architect .

Youth and education

He was the eldest son of Robert-Louis Penchaud (1740-1800), who was an architect in the province of Poitou before the revolution. He was his father's assistant for 30 years, supervising the construction of the Verrière and Dissais castles. Later his eldest son Antoine-Xavier-Robert Penchaud (1804-1860) also took up the profession of architect.

The adversities of the revolution and his convocation prevented a normal course of training as an architect. It was not until 1796 that he was accepted into the open studio of Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine . At the same time, he was employed as a draftsman at the Conseil des Bâtiments Civils and took part in several national architectural competitions organized by the Ministry of the Interior.

Architect of the city of Marseille

In 1803, at the request of Prefect Antoine Claire Thibaudeau, he was appointed urban architect of Marseille for four years and shortly afterwards architect of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. His first major project was the greenhouse of the Botanical Garden (1803 to 1810). After becoming involved in a dispute between the prefect and the new mayor, Antoine-Ignace d'Antoine, the latter had him replaced by another architect, Michaud, from 1807 to 1812.

Works

During this time, the Minister of the Interior saw in Penchaud a suitable specialist for expert missions as far as the Languedoc region . He was also entrusted with the research and restoration of the ancient buildings of the Midi: the Flavian Bridge of Saint-Chamas , the Antiques in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence , the Maison Carrée of Nîmes , the Roman Temple of Vernègues and the Theater of Arles . Penchaud then planned a written work that should describe the buildings of southern France and represent the counterpart of a corresponding trip to Italy. In addition, the work should become an authoritative source of study for artists and art lovers. These studies are considered to be the forerunners of the articles that later appear in La Statistique du Département des Bouches-du-Rhône . The Prefect Thibaudeau, who wanted to ensure the services of Penchauds on a permanent basis, appointed him architect of the department in 1808. Penchaud has now got his title back as urban architect, because Michaud had made himself unpopular in the course of the renovation work of the Hôtel Roux-de-Corse into a prefecture. Penchaud retained both functions until his death in 1833. Penchaud's career in Marseilles was a deliberate decision on his part because, although repeatedly drawn to Parisian tributes, he knew very well that he was the only one in Provence who could carry out the work at hand in the first third of the 19th century. Few buildings from the Napoleonic era still exist, but those that have survived to this day date from the time of the Restoration and all deserve our interest. In Marseille it concerns z. B. to

• a triumphal arch, called Porte d'Aix (foundation stone 1825)
• the Hôpital Caroline on the Ile de Ratonneau
• the evangelical church in rue Grignan

further:

• the Palace of Justice and the prison in Aix-en-Provence
• the Saint-Martin church in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
• the old prison in Orgon
• the Palace of Justice in Draguignan

The disappeared Marseilles works include:

• the greenhouse of the botanical garden
• the barracks of the gendarmerie and the prison
• the main gate of the Lazaret d'Arenc.

Two large incomplete works are the museum and the disabled hospice (la Timone), as well as the Tarascon slaughterhouse . The first sketches of the Palais de la Bourse on the Canebière (1841) are attributed to his son Antoine-Xavier. In 1846 the project was realized by Pascal Coste , pupil and protégé of Penchauds. The main characteristics in Penchaud's way of working are functionality, speed in execution and the standardization of certain elements. So his way of working comes very close to that of an engineer. The influence of his teacher Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand from the Ecole Polytechnique is reflected in many of his building plans . Penchaud's career ended with a final building project, that of the Arc de Triomphe, which he never saw completion.

The Hôpital Caroline

The hospice was built between 1823 and 1828 on the island of Ratonneau off Marseille. The purpose of use was to accommodate travelers who were to be quarantined if they were suspected of having yellow fever . The hospice was named after the Duchess of Berry. The construction was carried out in accordance with the sanitary requirements that were there: a well-ventilated area, because the wind should carry away germs, the proximity to the sea to facilitate communication, cover the need for water to clean the soil, the strict isolation of the infected and problem-free supervision.

In 1823 48 sick people and 24 convalescents could be admitted there. They lived in different, separate districts, separated from the outside by a wall. In the center of the facility was the so-called captaincy, from which everything could be seen and reached. Halfway between the sick and convalescent area, a chapel in the form of a Greek temple was built. Glazed elements were placed between the pillars so that the sick could attend church services from the windows of their dormitories. The pedestal was used to store care materials and medicines. The design was perfectly adapted to the purpose and was characterized by simplicity and practicality. An easily reproducible basic module can be found everywhere.

The modern shipping conditions quickly made this type of hospice superfluous as a quarantine facility, especially since the scientific debates regarding the epidemics also greatly changed the doctor-patient relationship. The hospice was mainly used by the military for soldiers who had fallen ill from Africa or Crimea. In 1850 it was structurally changed by the architect Vaucher and now, together with the ports of Pomègues and Le Frioul, forms the complex of the island hospital, which is considered to be the largest and best on the Mediterranean. The hospice was last used in the prisons in 1941 during a typhus epidemic. In August 1944 it was bombed when Marseille was liberated and left unused until the city of Marseille bought the islands in 1971. Today the hospice is being restored. Various forms of use are initiated - the most successful is the MIMI festival, which is organized by the AMI ( Aide aux Musiques Innovatrices ), an association promoting new types of music, every year in mid-July in the courtyard of the former hospice.

End of life

Penchaud led a secluded life, far away from public circles, collected medals and antiquities, always authentic as an architect permeated by classical culture. He had two students, Pascal Coste (1787–1879) and Vincent Barral (1800–1854). He hired the former early on as a draftsman and made it easier for him to enter the Paris Art School. Barral stood by his side as an inspector and became diocesan architect after Penchaud's death . He retired in 1832 and returned to Paris, where he died on December 22nd of the same year.

Penchaud was buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Marseille. His tomb was designed by the architect Félix Duban .

Friends of Michel-Robert Penchaud

The Friends of Michel-Robert Penchaud ( Amis de Michel Robert Penchaud ) was founded in 2007. The aim is to spread knowledge about the person and his work, the restoration of his masterpiece, the building complex of the Hôpital Caroline, the organization of cultural and social performances Kind at this memorial and the protection of flora and fauna there.

literature

• Charles Gabet: Penchaud (Michel-Robert) . In: Dictionnaire des artistes de l'école française, au XIXe siècle: peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure, dessin, lithographie et composition musicale . Madame Vergne, Paris 1831, p. 537–538 ( books.google.de - here differently 1775 as year of birth).
• Georg Kaspar Nagler : Penchaud, Michel Robert . In: New general artist lexicon . tape 11 . Fleischmann, Munich 1841, p. 65–66 ( books.google.de - here deviating 1775 as year of birth).
• Penchaud, Michel Robert . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 26 : Olivier – Pieris . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1932, p. 374 .
• Alexandre Du Bois, Elie Brault (eds.): Les architectes par leurs oeuvres . tape 3 . H. Laurens, Paris 1893, p. 80–81 (French, text archive - Internet Archive ).
• Adolphe Lance: Penchaud (Michel-Robert) . In: Dictionnaire des architectes français . VA Morel, Paris 1872, p. 187–189 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Jean Chélini, Félix Reynaud, Madeleine Villard (eds.): Dictionnaire des marseillais. Edisud, Marseille 2001, ISBN 2-7449-0254-3 , p. 262.

Web links

Commons : Michel-Robert Penchaud  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Amis de Michel Robert Penchaud
• Portrait de Michel-Robert Penchaud (1772–1832), architecte parismuseescollections.paris.fr

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Louis Thérèse David de Penanrun, Edmond Augustin Delaire, F. Roux: Penchaud, Michel Robert . In: Les architectes élèves de l'Ecole des beaux-arts, 1793–1907 . Librairie de la construction modern, Paris 1907, p. 368 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - With brief information on the father and son).
2. ^ Penchaud (Michel-Robert) . In: Joseph Fr. Michaud (Ed.): Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne; ou, Histoire, par ordre alphabétique de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait remarquer par leurs écrits, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes . tape 76 : Supplement: OB – PES . Michaud frères, Paris 1844, p. 413-415 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
3. ^ Hermann Alexander Müller, Hans Wolfgang Singer: Penchaud, Michel Robert . In: General Artist Lexicon . tape 3 . Literary Institute, Rütten & Loening, Frankfurt a. M. 1898, p. 397 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
4. ↑ Alexandre Du Bois, Elie Brault: Les architectes par leurs oeuvres . tape 3 . H. Laurens, Paris 1893, p. 80–81 (French, text archive - Internet Archive ).