Jacques Carlu was a
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
architectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and designer, working mostly in
Art DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style, active in France, Canada, and in the United States.
Through the 1910s Carlu studied on site with British city planner
Thomas Hayton MawsonThomas Hayton Mawson , better known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner....
, Pittsburgh architects
Palmer and HornbostelHenry Hornbostel was an American architect.He designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States; currently 22 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
, and in the Paris studios of
Victor LalouxVictor Alexandre Frederic Laloux was a French Beaux-Arts architect and teacher.- Life :Born in Tours, Laloux studied at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts atelier of Louis-Jules André, with his studies interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and was awarded the annual Prix de Rome in 1878...
. After winning the
Prix de RomeThe Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
in 1919, Carlu takes a number of academic positions in quick succession: director of the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts at FontainebleauThe Fontainebleau Schools started in 1921 with the involvement of the United States in the First World War. At the instigation of General Pershing—who wished to improve the quality of US military band music—Walter Damrosch, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, was asked to organize a...
, professor of architecture at the
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
from 1924 to 1934, and a position with the Beaux Arts Institute of Design in New York. With intensive transatlantic travel, Carlu becomes a sort of ambassador of
Streamline ModerneStreamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
style.
His most famous building is likely the Palais de Chaillot,
TrocadéroThe Trocadéro, , site of the Palais de Chaillot, , is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The hill of the Trocadéro is the hill of Chaillot, a former village.- Origin of the name :...
, near the
Eiffel TowerThe Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
, which was designed for the
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937 in Paris, France...
. The building's long wings now serve as museum space, and it features sculptural groups on the attic by
Raymond DelamarreRaymond Delamarre was a French sculptor and medalist.Delamarre fought in World War I and was awarded the Croix de guerre, then was educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jules-Felix Coutan...
, Carlo Sarrabezolles and Alfred Bottiau.
His other buildings include the 1957
NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers EuropeSupreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...
in Paris (until 1967). Among his important interiors are the 1930 Eaton Auditorium in Toronto (now known as "The Carlu"), the 1943 French
Nationality RoomThe Nationality Rooms are a collection of 27 classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning depicting and donated by the ethnic groups that helped build the city of Pittsburgh...
at the
University of Pittsburgh'sThe University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
Cathedral of LearningThe Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
, and other venues.
Carlu is buried at the
Passy CemeteryThe Passy Cemetery is a famous cemetery located at 2, rue du Commandant Schlœsing in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.-History:...
. He was the brother of French graphic designer
Jean CarluJean Carlu was a French graphic designer, specialised in posters. He was member of a family of architects; his brother Jacques Carlu for example designed the Palais de Chaillot in Paris...
.
External links