Claude Nicolas Ledoux

Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (March 21, 1736 – November 18, 1806) was one of the earliest exponents of French Neoclassical architecture. He used his knowledge of architectural theory to design not only in domestic architecture but town planning; as a consequence of his visionary plan for the Ideal City of Chaux, he became known as a utopian. His greatest works were funded by the French monarchy and came to be perceived as symbols of the Ancien Régime rather than Utopia. The French Revolution hampered his career; much of his work was destroyed in the nineteenth century. In 1804 he published a collection of his designs under the title "Architecture considered in relation to art, morals, and legislation." In this book he took the opportunity of...