Antoine Choquet de Lindu
Encyclopedia
Antoine Choquet de Lindu (7 November 1712, Brest
- 7 October 1790, Brest) was a French architect and military engineer in the service of the French Navy
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Between 1738 and his retirement in 1784 Choquet de Lindu devoted himself to the rebuilding and expansion of the port of Brest, producing "works of all kinds" - barracks, hospitals, magazines, dry docks, shipyards, theatres, prisons, sail and rope factories, dams and docks. It has been calculated that the buildings built by him over his whole career have a total area of 4,400 square metres. His main works were a Jesuit chapel attached to the hôpital Saint-Louis, the Brest prison
and the three basins of Pontaniou (work on which he restarted in 1751, completing them in 1757).
He also completed projects outside the port of Brest
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Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
- 7 October 1790, Brest) was a French architect and military engineer in the service of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
Life
Entering the Navy as a clerk, like his father, he executed a very large number of very important buildings at Brest, well-known for their solidity if not for their elegance and so perfectly fitted to their purpose. Made sous-ingénieur in 1743, he then became chief engineer in 1746. From 1764 to 1767, the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry for War were merged, and Choquet de Lindu was attached to the royal corps of engineers, with a commission as an infantry captain (though he was kept on as director of the maritime works of the port of Brest, under Amédée-François FrézierAmédée-François Frézier
Amédée-François Frézier was a French military engineer, mathematician, spy, and explorer who is best remembered for bringing back five specimens of Fragaria chiloensis, the beach strawberry, from an assignment in South America, thus introducing this New World fruit to the Old.-Family...
).
Between 1738 and his retirement in 1784 Choquet de Lindu devoted himself to the rebuilding and expansion of the port of Brest, producing "works of all kinds" - barracks, hospitals, magazines, dry docks, shipyards, theatres, prisons, sail and rope factories, dams and docks. It has been calculated that the buildings built by him over his whole career have a total area of 4,400 square metres. His main works were a Jesuit chapel attached to the hôpital Saint-Louis, the Brest prison
Brest Prison
The Brest Prison was a 254m long prison in Brest, France. It was built between 1749 and 1751 by Antoine Choquet de Lindu, dominating the military port it was built to serve. It could house 300 prisoners , children as young as 11 as well as older people...
and the three basins of Pontaniou (work on which he restarted in 1751, completing them in 1757).
Buildings
(List drawn from http://brestmaville.canalblog.com/archives/2006/08/15/2469276.html)- 1738-1744 : Four Bordenave shipbuilding docks
- 1740 : Chapel of the Jesuit seminary, known as the chapelle de la marine
- 1740 : Naval forges
- 1740 : Second prison of Pontaniou
- 1740 : Bakery, washroom, laundry and offices of the navy hospital
- 1740 : Iron and carpentry store
- 1744-1745 : General magazine
- 1745-1747 : High ropewalk
- 1747 : Lead, locks, iron and tar store.
- 1747 : Shooting range on the quai aux vivres
- 1747 : Five-furnace bakery on Parc aux vivres
- 1747 : Expansion of the provision bakery on the lower ropewalk
- 1750-1751 : Brest prison, closure of the Arsenal of Brest
- 1751-1757 : Formes or basins of Pontaniou
- 1753 : Fountain on Quai de la Corderie
- 1753 : Masts store
- 1756-1761 : Barrack-block in quartier de la marine
- 1763-1764 : Second mole at Pontaniou
- 1766 : Théâtre de la marine - built in 8 months, with a favourable acoustic and good sight-lines throughout
- 1766-1767 : Matelot barrack-block (second depot) up to the first floor
- 1766 : Upgrade of the mast-machine
- 1768-1769 : Iron-store along the first Pontaniou basin
- 1768-1770 : Four-furnace bakery
- 1769 : Fountain on quai de Kéravel
- 1770-1771 : Two mast hangars at Le Salou
- 1775 : Cover over the third Pontaniou basin
- 1777-1779 : Barracks behind the hospital
- 1780 : Pontanézen hospital
- the theatre in Brest
He also completed projects outside the port of Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
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- 1756 : port of La HagueLa HagueLa Hague is a region on the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France.La Hague is a picturesque place of Precambrian granite cliffs, coves and small fields surrounded by hedges. It faces the Channel Islands and there any many cousins on both side of the Alderney race.The dialect of the...
- 1772 : shipyard at LandevennecLandévennecLandévennec is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Ship graveyard:Shortly before entering the roadstead of Brest, the river Aulne forms a bend around the Île de Térénez then the pointe de Pen Forn near Landévennec, where there is 10m depth of water regardless...
, on the ChâteaulinChâteaulinChâteaulin is a commune in the Finistère department in the region of Brittany in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:...
river. - the tower of the phare du Stiff on the island of Ouessant
Writings
He wrote the "bagne" ("prison") article in Diderot's Encyclopédie, and was a member of the académie de marine. He published two works:- 1757 : La Description des trois formes du port de Brest
- 1759 : La Description du bagne de l’arsenal de Brest