Pierre Debeaux Explained

Nationality:French
Birth Name:Pierre Amédée Bernard Debeaux
Birth Date:9 July 1925
Birth Place:Mazères-sur-Salat,
Death Place:Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France
Signature:Pierre Debeaux Signature.jpg
Significant Buildings:

Significant Projects:Pic du Midi de Bigorre

Pierre Debeaux (19 July 1925 – 22 January 2001) was a French modernist architect and polymath. He is known for buildings such as the observatory of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, the and the in Toulouse, and the in the Tarn – both of which are registered French national landmarks. He is described in the archives of the Haute-Garonne as "the most inventive architect of his generation".[1] [2] [3]

Early life an education

Pierre Amédée Bernard Debeaux was born on July 19, 1925, in Mazères-sur-Salat. His father, François Jean Bernard Debeaux (1901–1984) was an electrical engineer who taught industrial design at both the Ecole des Beaux-arts and the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse. The Debeaux family lived in Toulouse and had a second home in Saint-Denis-les-Martel in the Lot.[4]

He attended the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse from 1935–1943 and graduated with a baccalaureate in mathematics, followed by a baccalaureate in philosophy under the tutelage of Jean-Pierre Vernant. He remained a fervent admirer of Vernant's Hellenism throughout his life, and was also influenced by Vernant's involvement in the Resistance.

Debeaux obtained a degree in architecture from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in June 1950 with a project for an agricultural tool forge. He was awarded the prize for the best national diploma and became a registered architect in 1950.[5] [6]

During the 1960s and 1970s, he embarked on several major research trips to discover different cultures and heritages: Siberia and China (1966); Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia (1967 and 1971); India, Nepal and Kashmir (1968); Mexico (1969); Siberia and Japan (1970); Indonesia and Sri Lanka (1972); and Turkey (1974). These journeys added an Orientalist influence to Debeaux's work.[7]

Work and career

From 1954 to 1972, Debeaux was part of the "Atelier des Architectes Associés", which he co-founded. He devoted much of his time to research into harmonic relationships and three-dimensional structures. Between 1966 and 1989, he filed a series of patents in France, Europe and the United States for three-dimensional structures.

He is known for buildings such as the observatory of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, built between 1951–1966 (Debeaux was only 26 when he began the project); the Jacques Vion fire station (1966–1972) and the Monument à la Gloire de la Résistance (1965–1971) in Toulouse, and the landmarked Pradier house (1974–1978) in the Tarn.[8] [9] [10] Charlotte Perriand was commissioned to design unique furniture pieces for the Pradier house. These pieces were sold at Sotheby's in 2020.[11] [12]

In 1958 Debeaux became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-arts in Toulouse.

In 1973 he was awarded the prize for the innovative metal roof structure design of the Jacques Vion fire station.[13]

In 1981, he won the Académie d'Architecture's "Beau Béton" competition for the Pradier house.[14]

Debeaux made artistic and scientific contributions to the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse between 1965 and 1992.[15]

Personal life

Pierre Debeaux and his partner Elisabeth Cardo had one daughter, Charlotte, born in Toulouse in 1985.

Death and legacy

Debeaux suffered a stroke in November 1997. He died in Toulouse in January 2001.

Debeaux's Pradier house and Monument to the Glory of the Resistance are protected French national landmarks. An initiative was begun in 2023 to add the Jacques Vion fire station to the French register of protected monuments resulting in the building being granted protected status.[16] [17] [18]

Partial list of works

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Armand . Sophie . 2016 . 189 J Fonds Pierre Debeaux architecte (1925–2001) . 2023-06-24 . Archives Départementales de la Haute-Garonne . fr.
  2. Book: Patrimoines Midi-Pyrénées, Archives d'architectes . 2013 . Conseil régional Midi-Pyrénées . Patrimoines Midi-Pyrénées . Toulouse.
  3. Web site: Faham . Bryan . 2023-09-16 . La caserne Vion, symbole des Trente Glorieuses, devient un monument historique . 2023-09-16 . www.lejournaltoulousain.fr . fr-FR.
  4. Saint-Pierre . Raphaëlle . 2019-03-06 . LES GÉOMÉTRIES VIRTUOSES D'UN MODERNE . AMC . fr.
  5. 2023-01-31 . Sauver le chef-d’œuvre de Pierre Debeaux . AMC . fr.
  6. Web site: Pierre Debeaux, dans l'ombre de Le Corbusier . 2023-07-09 . ladepeche.fr . fr.
  7. Book: Gruet, Stéphane . Pierre Debeaux, architecte: L'artiste et le géomètre (1925–2001) . Éditions POÏESIS . 2005 . 978-2951895317 . 104.
  8. Web site: PSS / Mémorial de la Résistance (Toulouse, France) . 2023-07-08 . www.pss-archi.eu.
  9. Web site: Maison dite " Maison Pradier ", due à l'architecte Pierre Debeaux . 2023-07-09 . www.pop.culture.gouv.fr.
  10. Web site: Gruet . Stéphane . ArchitectureWeek – Culture – Fire Station in Toulouse – 2005.0921 . 2023-07-10 . www.architectureweek.com.
  11. Web site: Akkam . Alia . 2020-12-03 . A Major New Auction of Charlotte Perriand Works Is Set to Take Place in Paris This Month . 2023-07-10 . Architectural Digest . en-US.
  12. News: Evans . Christina Ohly . 2020-10-21 . How to pick up a rare piece of Charlotte Perriand furniture . Financial Times . 2023-07-13.
  13. Web site: Prix Charles-Henri Besnard délivré à Pierre Debeaux pour ses travaux sur un type nouveau de charpentes tridirectionnelles : correspondances, mémoire. . 2023-07-12 . Archives départementales de la Haute-Garonne . fr-fr.
  14. Web site: Vanacker . Céline . May 2014 . La maison Pradier, Lavaur, Etude d’inventaire . July 12, 2023 . www.ville-lavaur.fr.
  15. Book: Gruet, Stéphane . Pierre Debeaux, architecte (1925–2001): L'artiste et le géomètre . Éditions POÏESIS . 2005 . 978-2951895317 . 101-102 . The Artist and the Geometer.
  16. Web site: 2023-02-01 . Toulouse: a petition for the Vion fire station, testimony to the 1960s, to become a historic monument . 2023-07-10 . newsinfrance.com . en-US.
  17. Web site: Caserne Jacques Vion de Toulouse : Lettre ouverte à Madame la Ministre de la Culture – Sites & Monuments . 2023-07-12 . www.sitesetmonuments.org.
  18. Web site: Toulouse : la caserne de pompiers Jacques-Vion, chef-d’œuvre de Pierre Debeaux, doit être sauvée . 2023-07-08 . Libération . fr.
  19. Web site: Label 'Outstanding contemporary architecture' . 2023-07-12 . www.culture.gouv.fr . en-GB.
  20. Web site: Architecture du XXe siècle en Midi Toulousain . 20th c. Architecture in Midi-Toulouse . 2023-07-12 . www.culture.gouv.fr . fr-FR.
  21. Web site: Villa Chanfreau . 2023-07-12 . www.pop.culture.gouv.fr.
  22. Web site: The historical monuments . 2023-07-12 . www.culture.gouv.fr . en-GB.
  23. Web site: 2023-09-15 . Toulouse : la caserne Vion inscrite au titre des monuments historiques . 2023-09-16 . France 3 Occitanie . fr-FR.
  24. Web site: Pierre Debeaux architecte (1925-2001) : l'artiste et le géomètre = the artist and the geometer. . 2023-07-10 . primo.getty.edu . en.

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