Auguste Perret, the city of the atom. The Saclay nuclear research center.
Heritage Editions| N° d'inventaire | 27002 |
| Format | 22 x 27 |
| Détails | 230 p., color illustrations, paperback with flaps. |
| Publication | Paris, 2018 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782757705568 |
This book is the fascinating story of the creation by Auguste Perret of the Saclay Nuclear Research Center, the flagship of French atomic research and a model of prestigious public industrial architecture. At the crossroads of science and politics, atomic research has a necessarily complex history that the author brilliantly restores, recounting the advances of scientists, their conflicts over the possible military applications of a science that they would prefer to see intended for the well-being of populations, the influence of the Second World War and the disasters of Nagasaki and Hiroshima on the construction of the Center. In addition to this history of French atomic research, which must necessarily be restored to fully understand the issues surrounding the construction of the CEA, the book is also a monograph of this last great work built by Auguste Perret. Having reached the height of his career, Perret grasped the enormous challenges of this commission, made all the more complex by the fact that research was constantly evolving and that it was therefore necessary to plan for inevitable modifications and extensions. In this respect, Perret's application of his grid system, whether for the ground plan of this atomic city or for the buildings themselves, finds a brilliant realization here. With this project, he delivers the true heart of the Center, with its administrative buildings, its laboratories, its canteen and its archives center but also, of course, all the buildings intended to house the atomic experiments. This book is therefore intended both for those interested in the history of the 20th century or that of scientific research, and for those passionate about architecture, who will find here detailed descriptions of the buildings accompanied by numerous plans and drawings.
This book is the fascinating story of the creation by Auguste Perret of the Saclay Nuclear Research Center, the flagship of French atomic research and a model of prestigious public industrial architecture. At the crossroads of science and politics, atomic research has a necessarily complex history that the author brilliantly restores, recounting the advances of scientists, their conflicts over the possible military applications of a science that they would prefer to see intended for the well-being of populations, the influence of the Second World War and the disasters of Nagasaki and Hiroshima on the construction of the Center. In addition to this history of French atomic research, which must necessarily be restored to fully understand the issues surrounding the construction of the CEA, the book is also a monograph of this last great work built by Auguste Perret. Having reached the height of his career, Perret grasped the enormous challenges of this commission, made all the more complex by the fact that research was constantly evolving and that it was therefore necessary to plan for inevitable modifications and extensions. In this respect, Perret's application of his grid system, whether for the ground plan of this atomic city or for the buildings themselves, finds a brilliant realization here. With this project, he delivers the true heart of the Center, with its administrative buildings, its laboratories, its canteen and its archives center but also, of course, all the buildings intended to house the atomic experiments. This book is therefore intended both for those interested in the history of the 20th century or that of scientific research, and for those passionate about architecture, who will find here detailed descriptions of the buildings accompanied by numerous plans and drawings.