Education
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
He and Pierre Contant d"Ivry were among the most eminent Parisian architects of the day and designed in both the restrained French Rococo manner, known as the "Louis XV style" and in the "Goût grec" (literally "Greek taste") phase of early Neoclassicism. A skilled draughtsman, he illustrated several architectural treatises, such as Jean-Baptiste de Monicart"s "Versailles immortalisé" (1720–1725) and Jean Mariette"s "L’Architecture française" (1727). He and d"Ivray were tutors to Claude Nicolas Ledoux, whom they introduced to Classical architecture, in particular the temples of Paestum.
In 1748 and 1753, he unsuccessfully submitted 4 projects for the future Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde), and in 1764 was not commissioned for the extension of the Palais Bourbon.
On the death of Germain Boffrand in 1754, he became a member of the first rank of the Academie.