Lurcat, Andre

Born Aug. 27, 1894, in Bruyères, Vosges; died July 12, 1970, in Sault, near Paris. French architect. Member of the Communist Party of France. Brother of J. Lurcat.

Lurcat studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts Nancy and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1939 he became a member of the Academy of Architecture in Paris. A theorist of rationalism, Lurçat primarily designed residential and civic complexes according to a clear plan and a balanced organization of masses and voids. He worked on the problem of building standardization and aimed, especially after the war, to unite the principles of rationalism with historically established architectural styles. Lurçat’s principal works in the Paris suburbs are a school complex named after K. Marx in Villejuif (1931-33), the rebuilding of the St. Denis region (1946-62), and a residential complex in Le Blanc Mesnil (1950-67). He also rebuilt the city of Maubeuge in Nord Department (1945-63) and designed the Lay-Saint-Christophe sanatorium near Nancy (1956) and an apartment building in St. Maixent-PEcole (1958-67). Between 1934 and 1937, Lurcat worked in the USSR on the design of hospital complexes for Moscow, Smolensk, and Gorky (the plans were never realized).