Claude Parent

Claude Parent (26 February 1923 – 27 February 2016),^[1] born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, was a French architect.

He is known for his buildings featuring sloped floors, an aesthetic initially inspired by Parent's discovery, with philosopher Paul Virilio, of World War II bunkers constructed along the Atlantic Wall that had accidentally slipped down sand dunes because of severe winter weather. "Inside [the fallen bunkers], you tumbled through a strange room; the floor was so sloped that you couldn't tell whether what you were standing on was a slanted floor or a wall," Parent has said.^[2]

He won the Grand Prix national de l'architecture in 1979 and was elected at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 2005.

Among his most well known works (completed with Virilio) is the Church Saint Bernadette du Banlay in Nevers.^[3]

Parent was also an automobile aficionado, and owned many cars including Maserati and Bentley.^[4]

Buildings

• House André Bloc, Antibes, 1961
• House « Bordeaux le Pecq », 1966
• Church Sainte-Bernadette du Banlay, Nevers, 1963 to 1966
• House Drusch in Versailles
• French pavillon for the Venice Biennale, 1970
• Montceau-les-Mines Townhall, 1973
• EDF offices, Libreville, Gabon, 1973
• Avicenne foundation (formerly Iranian pavillon in the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris), with Moshen Foroughi and Heydar Ghiai.
• Cattenom nuclear power plant
• Vincent-d'Indy High School, Paris, 1988
• Carrefour shopping mall, Sens, 1989
• Silvia Monfort theater, Paris, 1991
• Entertainment center of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, France, 1995
• EDF headquarters, Saint-Denis, with Bernard Reichen and Philippe Robert, 1998

Prizes

• Grand prix national de l’architecture (1979)
• Officier de la Légion d'honneur (1990)
• Member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (2005)
• Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (2010)^[5]
• Member of the Académie d'architecture

References