Claude Parent was born on February 26, 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and died there on February 27, 2016 at age 93.
After studying mathematics, he joins the workshop of Noël Le Maresquier at the Beaux-Arts school in Toulouse in 1942. After the war, he moves to Paris to resume his studies in numerous Beaux-Arts workshops. Disillusioned and angered by the conservatism and academicism of the school, he decided to leave without his diploma. After a few stints in studios (including that of Le Corbusier), he teamed up with Ionel Schein, another rebellious student. Their association lasted from 1949 to 1955. In 1952, while they were still students, together they won a national architectural competition organized by the magazine La Maison Française. In 1952, while still students, they won a national architectural competition organized by the magazine La Maison Française. This prize propelled them into the spotlight and led to commissions for individual houses. After meeting André Bloc, who introduced him to the Espace Group, he became a member of the editorial committee of the magazine l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, remaining on the board for more than 30 years. Within the Espace group, he works with many artists and meets Yves Klein with whom he worked on the architecture of air and fire. Within the Espace Group, he collaborated with many artists and met Yves Klein, with whom he worked on the Architecture of air and fire. He designed numerous individual houses, including the Bloc villa in Antibes (now listed as Historical Monument), the Bordeaux-Le Pecq house, and the Drusch house. He also build several residential and office buildings, including the remarkable Avicenne Foundation (formerly Maison de l’Iran) at the Cité Universitaire Internationale in Paris (1962, with André Bloc and Iranian architects Moshen Foroughi and Heydar Ghiaï).
In 1963, he founded the Architecture Principe group with Paul Virilio, Michel Carrade, and Morice Lipsi. Parent and Virilio, advocating for a new appropriation of space breaking with the orthogonal rule, developed the Fonction Oblique (1963-1968). Parent served as co-founder and later editor-in-chief of the magazine Architecture Principe, the group’s manifesto. Among the projects that exemplify the concept of Fonction Oblique (Oblique Function) is the Sainte-Bernadette church in Nevers (1963-1966), designed with Paul Virilio, which is now protected as a Historic Monument.
After the breakup of Architecture Principe, Claude Parent continued to experiment with and develop the Oblique Function in several buildings, including his own house, the Bellaguet apartment, and the Sens supermarket (1970, also protected as a Historic Monument). Until 1973, he also worked on introducing oblique architecture to a larger public by creating large, walkable oblique installations called praticables obliques. In 1969, he was appointed curator of the French pavilion at the 1970 Venice Art Biennale, transforming it into an oblique space and inviting artists to invest and the public to discover this unusual art walkthrough called La ligne de la plus grande pente.
He built large commercial complexes and socio-cultural centers, notably the youth and culture center of Troyes, as well as office buildings in Lyon-Villeurbanne for Electricité de France (EDF) and in the historic center of Prague (the Myslbek building and gallery, with Zdenek Hölzel and Jan Kerel, 1992-1996), along with several middle and high schools.
He developed architectural models and site integration studies for EDF’s nuclear power plant program. And directed the College of Architects du Nucléaire, which conducted architectural research for EDF. He particularly focused on the Cattenom and Chooz power stations. He later designed the Silvia Monfort Theater in Paris, the Hôtel de Région (government building) in Marseille, the Aéronef center for Paris Airports, and the town hall of Lillebonne (Normandy).
A theorist, he is the author of numerous works, such as Vivre à l’oblique (1970), Cinq reflections sur l’architecture (1972), Claude Parent architecte (1975), Architecture et Nucléaire (1978), Entrelacs de l’oblique (1981), L’architecte, bouffon social (1982), Colères (1982), Les Maisons de l’Atome (1983), Errer dans l’Illusion (2001), Quand les Bouffons relèvent la tête (2002) , Cuits et archicuits (2003), Demain la Terre (2010), Stop & Go (2012), And numerous critical articles, in particular for Architecture d’Aujourd’hui.
His architectural achievements and theories, visionary drawings, and writings are now recognized as major influences on contemporary architecture. Breaking away from classical and modernist orthogonal rules, he introduced the oblique as an architectural solution, promoting movement and instability in architectural language. Prominent architects such as Jean Nouvel (who worked for Claude Parent), Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Wolf D. Prix, Odile Decq, and many others, as well as leading architectural historians, have acknowledged the revolutionary and seminal influence of the “Oblique” in post-war and contemporary architecture.
Honors:
– Commander of the French Legion of Honor (2010)
– Commander of the French Academic Palms
– Commander of the French Arts et Lettres (1996)
– Commander of the French Order of Merit (1990)
– France’s Grand Prix National d’Architecture (1979)
– Silver Medal from the French Academy of Architecture
– Medal of the Union of Decorative Arts (UAD)
– Gold Medal from the French Society for the Encouragement of Progress (1983)
– UIA Medal for his critical work
– Grand Silver Medal for Architecture I (1978, Fondation le Soufoché)
– Member of the Academy of Architecture (1979-2006)
– Member of the Accademia delle Arte del Design in Florence (Italy)
– Member of the Institute – Academy of Fine Arts, received on March 15, 2006
Short chronology:
February 26, 1923: Claude Parent is born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
1942: Claude Parent enters the École des Beaux-Arts (Architecture) in Toulouse. 1947, He joins the École des Beaux-Arts of Paris.
1949: He meets Ionel Schein at the school and both join the studio of Georges-Henri Pingusson.
1950: The two students write a letter to André Bloc advocating for the representation and participation of young architects in L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. André Bloc then invites them to create a group of young people within the association. Parent starts writing for the magazine.
1952: Parent and Schein win a competition organized by the magazine La Maison française to build a one family house in Ville-d’Avray, inaugurated the following year.
1953: Parent and Schein join the Le Corbusier’s studio, where they work on the Unité d’habitation in Nantes-Rezé.
A collaborative studio of architectural concepts is created in Parent’s apartment.
1955: Claude Parent finishes the Perdrizet House (Champigny-sur-Marne, 1955-1957) and designs for the Domaine de la Grotte in Lourdes.
1956: He joins the board of the Groupe Espace and starts working on the Soultrait’s house (in Domont, 1956-1958).
1957: Goulet-Turpin brings him in for the creation of the first French self-service supermarkets. Interior design for the Café du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées.
1959: He gets onto the editorial board of L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui.
1960: Upon the recommendation of André Bloc, Parent joins the conceptual team of the Maison de l’Iran (at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris)[1] until 1969. He also designs Bloc’s summer house on the Cap d’Antibes (1959-1966).
1959-1962: The architect draws renderings of L’Architecture de l’air for Yves Klein and also works on a multiple stage theater project with Yaacov Agam.
1963: Architecture Principe group with Paul Virilio and design of the Sainte-Bernadette du Banlay church (Nevers, 1963-1966, now Historical Monument) and of the Thomson-Houston factory and research center (Velizy-Villacoublay, 1964-1968). Parent the Drusch Villa in Versailles (1963-1966), and the Blind polyhedron for the Youth and Arts Center in Troyes (1963-1965).
1964: Design of a house/studio for painter Andrée Bordeaux-Le Pecq (Bois-le-Roy, 1964-1966).
1965: Nicolas Ledoux-Exploration du futur exhibit at the Salines royales de Chaux, in Arc-et-Senans, curated by Parent and Goulet, with radical projects by Archigram, Soleri, Kikutake and Architecture Principe.
1966: Nine iconic issues of Architecture Principe are published. Parent and Virilio design the Research Center Thomson-Houston in Vélizy-Villacoublay.
1967-1968: Claude Parent designs a number of supermarkets and hypermarkets of which four will be built (Ris-Orangis, Epernay, Tinqueux and Sens) between 1967 and 1971. Jean Nouvel joins the studio. Summer 1968: The group Architecture Principe is dissolved.
1970: Claude Parent curates the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for the Arts. His practicable space called The line of greater slope brings together a number of artists. International Competition for the Plateau Beaubourg (future Georges Pompidou Center). Parent designs an oblique apartment for painter Bellaguet, rue Perronet (Neuilly-sur-Seine). Three years later, he will renew the experiment in his own home, also in Neuilly. Publication of his manifesto Vivre à l’Oblique.
1971: Tour of the Oblique(1971-1974) visits 10 cities with experimental oblique practicable spaces, exhibits, screenings, performances and public debates.
1974: Nine schools and six competitive projects will follow up until 1995. EDF (Electricity of France) commissions a preliminary architectural study of the nuclear power stations.
1975: Claude Parent creates and heads up the Collège des architectes du nucléaire within EDF. This group of nine architects will work together until 1984. Parent will build Cattenom (1975-1991) and Chooz B (1979-1997) in the east of France.
1977: He becomes Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
1979: Claude Parent receives the Grand Prix National d’Architecture, France’s highest Architectural award.
1987: Parent, with Biaggi and Maurin, wins the competition for the Region Hall PACA (Marseilles).
1988: Parent wins the competition for the Parc de Passy (Paris). Parent later wins his lawsuit against the Ministry of Equipment, Housing, Planning and Transportation which had rejected his project.
February 21, 1990: Parent becomes officer of the Legion of Honor. He starts working for ADP (Paris Airports), with the Aéronef at Roissypôle (1996).
1991: Parent, with Reichen & Robert, realizes the EDF complex of Cap Ampère (Saint-Denis, 1991-1996). Parent also designs the Myslbek Center in Prague with Hölzel and Kerel.
1992: Inauguration of the Théâtre Silvia Monfort in Paris.
1993: Parent and Group 3 win the competition for the Lillebonne Town Hall (1993-1998).
1995-1996: Competition for the Centre de Creation Contemporaine in Tours with Coop Himmelb(l)au. Parent will later consult for the Viennese studio on the Musée des Confluences project (Lyon, 2001-2014).
1996: Bloc, le monolithe fracturé exhibition curated by Frédéric Migayrou at the Venice Biennale. Parent is commissioned to design the entrance to the French pavilion. He closes his studio that year.
2004-2005: Drawings and models by Architecture Principe and Claude Parent shown at the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo) for the exhibit Archilab: New Experiments in Architecture, Art and the City, 1950-2005.
2006: Claude Parent is elected to the French Fine Art Academy (Architecture section) à the Institut de France.
2010: Retrospective of his work at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (Paris), with a scenography by Jean Nouvel. Claude Parent rises to the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor.
2014: Rem Koolhaas presents a reconstitution of Claude Parent’s Oblique living room in the exhibit Elements of Architecture, in the main pavilion of the architectural Biennale in Venice.
July 5-October 26, 2014: For the 8th Liverpool Biennial, the Tate Liverpool exhibit A needle walks into a haystack curators Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman give Claude Parent carte blanche for the design of the exhibition space.
2015: Inauguration of the Philharmonic of Paris that Jean Nouvel presents as an homage to Claude Parent.
February 27, 2016: Death of Claude Parent.
September, 2016: Exhibit of the last fashion drawings of the architect for Azzedine Alaïa at his gallery (Paris).
September, 2016: Exhibit of the last fashion drawings of the architect for Azzedine Alaïa at his gallery (Paris).
2023-2024: Creation of the Claude Parent Archives association and first edition of the Claude Parent Prize for Transgressive Architecture.
2024: Completion of the Worshop for artist Loris Gréaud. Designed by Claude Parent and Loris Gréaud, the artist’s studio is Parent’s ultimate building, completed 8 years after his death.
[1] CIUP = International student residence halls in Paris.