17 - Palais d’Iena

17 - Palais d’Iena - Auguste Perret - 1937

9 Av. d’Iéna, 75016 Paris

Auguste Perret (Belgium, 1874-1954) is a French architect who was one of the first technical specialists in reinforced concrete. Perret takes place within an architecture movement more oriented towards a heritage logic. He appears as one of the very few architects to have challenged the Modern Movement for its issues and limitations. He wanted to promote concrete, but use it towards a more classic form. He refused the tabula rasa, and wanted to keep the morphological and artistic heritage of the European city. He designed de Palais in 1937, which was first the National Museum of Public Works, but then became the International Commerce Chamber in 1960.

He defined a classical order whose proportions are directly derived from the logic of concrete. Fully made of the material Perret does not use any cladding or covering, “the concrete is enough in itself”. The slender columns carry the roof in a single stream, under which a second building slides. The interplay of these two frameworks forms a setting of perfect proportions. The columns flare out towards the top to unite with the edge beam by a trunk of pyramid decorated with plant motifs. It is not, according to Perret, a simple capital, but a visual link ending the column and making it, with its curve and its base, “a person”, that one cannot, he says, “lengthen or shorten”. But the masterpiece of the Palais d’Iéna is undoubtedly its famous monumental staircase, with double evolution, in openwork concrete. The concretes are made of green porphyry and pink marble.

Capturing light and shadow in the hierarchy of its textures and moldings, the colonnade facade is the most remarkable expression of the “order of reinforced concrete”, Perret’s contribution to an age-old discipline of which he wanted to be the temporary artisan. The building is now a perfect representation of Perret’s beliefs. Even 80 years later, the Palais d’Iéna has kept its superb appearance and has survived without ever going out of fashion. It is even said to be one of the great classics of modern architecture. 96