ArchitectureAtEverestS2: Architecture at Everest: Week 4 Post 1

Intersession
Architecture and Design
Audie Santos
1/28/13

Jan. 28th, 2013

Documentary: Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, France

The Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, was a Salt refinery made for King Louis XV. In the 18th century, salt had become a very valuable preservative and commodity for everyday life so having a Salt refinery was essential. The architect who had designed the refinery was Claude Ledoux. At first, Ledoux decided to design the first plan for the Royal Saltworks for the king and presented it to him later. Loius XV rejected thje sqaure courtyard design with the factory in the middle.

Upon rejection of his first design, Ledoux tried to design a courtyard that would resemble a hierarchy. Ledoux's design was a perfect circle. King Louis approved of the 2nd design and Ledoux began construction of the Royal Saltworks in 1773. Unfortunately, the economy at the time was bad so Ledoux only made a half-circle. Ledoux made do with what he had. On the diameter, he placed the 2 salt factories and Director's house in the center point of the diameter. The houses for the laborers were placed along the circumference of the semi-circle. All of the buildings were separated to decrease the chance of fire spreading and to put architectural rhythm to it.The building structures were surrounded by a larger wall. The walls were placed to enclose the refinery to keep it private. Behind the Laborer Houses were personal gardens for the employees living there. The main entrance holds 2 different surfaces on the exterior and interior. On the outside, the straight, smooth roof of the front most part of the entrance collides with the rounded, tile backside of it. On the interior, the smooth ceiling conflicts with the rocky grotto.

The whole building layout can be seen from this picture.

http://www.wan-governance.com/my_weblog/2009/07/index.html

Ledoux also had created his own kind of column. He had drawn influence from the Greco-Roman and Renaissance style Doric Columns and replaced every other segment with a square to add flair and originality to it. Ledoux's columns were an architectural statement included rhythm, unique design, and cost efficiency in one bundle. Sadly, in 1926, the last owner of the Saltworks had used T.N.T. to destroy the buildings. However, restoration work has brought back these historical monuments from the 18th century.