Happy Birthday Claude Nicolas Ledoux!! Born in France in 1736, this Parisian artist was a visionary Neoclassical architect. He began drawing at an early age and pursued a course of study in the Classics at the College de Beauvais. After graduation at 17, Ledoux worked as an engraver for 4 years before studying architecture under Jacques-Francois Blondel. He designed some private homes as well as buildings for the city. His work was extremely expensive and impossible to complete in some cases. One which was never finished was the ambitions Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans (below). This was a grand plan for an ideal city with an elaborate salt extracting plant as its hub. Lack of funding and complications presented with the French Revolution prevented the completion of his scheme. Following his arrest during the French Revolution he ceased practicing architecture.
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