Daily Almanac for
Oct 12, 2008
Search White Pages
Info search tips
Bio search tips
Encyclopedia—French architecture

Early Architecture

The earliest surviving architecture in France dates to the Stone Age, as a number of prehistoric sites in Brittany attest. Classical architecture was introduced into the south of France during the Roman conquest in the 1st cent. A.D. Well-preserved examples of Roman architecture include the Maison Carrée and the Pont du Gard near Nîmes. Scant traces remain of the early development of Gallic architecture, including Early Christian, Merovingian, and Carolingian buildings. The Roman basilica form predominated and, during the Carolingian period, was greatly enriched by design innovations.

Sections in this article:

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

    • Cite
    • Print
    • Bookmark

Premium Partner Content
HighBeam Research

Related content from HighBeam Research on: French architecture: Early Architecture

Architectural form: David Dunster considers the historical relationship between architecture and engineering, how it was tested during the early years of Modernism and how structure might yet fulfil its potential for expression.(comment)(Essay) (The Architectural Review)

Architecture in the United States, 1800-1850.(Book Review) (Journal of Southern History)

Architecture in the United States, 1800-1850 (The Journal of Southern History)

Revisiting Jacques Greber's L'Architecture aux Etats-Unis: From City Beautiful to Cite-Jardin.(Critical Essay) (Urban History Review)

The triumvirate of Modernism.(Another Modern, the Post-war Architecture and Urbanism of Candilis-Josic-Woods)(Book review) (The Architectural Review)

Constructing the architext: Georges Perec's Life a User's Manual; This essay argues that Georges Perec's Life a User's Manual--at once a novel, an apartment building, and a game of chess--articulates compellingly the confluence of literature and architecture that took place in the late twentieth century. (Mosaic (Winnipeg))

St Louis and Washington University.(Book Reviews)(Modern Architecture in St. Louis--Washington University & Postwar American Architecture 1948-1973)(Book Review) (Architectural Science Review)

Thomas Jefferson and his books on architecture and landscape gardening *.(Essay) (Aurora, The Journal of the History of Art)

SCENE.(Les Cocottes de Christian Constant)(La Cit de L'Architecture and Patrimoine)(Restaurant review) (WWD)

Nationality and gothic: Roger Stalley reviews the first serious overview of the complex story of the arrival and assimilation of the gothic style in Britain.(The Formation of English Gothic: Architecture and Identity)(Book review) (Apollo)

Additional search results provided by HighBeam Research, LLC. © Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.