Émile Bénard
Encyclopedia
Henri Jean Émile Bénard (June 23, 1844 in Goderville
- October 15, 1929 in Paris
), was a French architect and painter. Trained at the Beaux-Arts
, Bénard was the winner of The Phoebe Hearst
International Architectural Competition and the Berkeley Campus in 1899 with his project "Roma." The competition and his design led to the current University of California, Berkeley Campus Architecture
.
s were judged to be excellent in scale and proportion, with the drawings done beautifully. The only weakness noted was that some of the buildings in the upper part of the plan were too far from those with related departments, making some rearrangement necessary. In the end, the jury declared Bénard the architect to be entrusted with the execution of the work.
. The axis continued off campus by way of a preexisting approach known as University Avenue, which led straight to the bay. His east-west axis included a square, treelined esplanade and formal garden. His plan contained many different sizes and shapes of buildings, with domes, courts, towers and different roof styles, instead of rows of buildings of the same size and shape. His plan made elegant use of Charter Hill, with stairs and buildings working their way up to a monument at the top. Moreover, unlike most of the other plans, and unlike the campus today, it afforded a view of the hill from strategic points in the central campus. Like the other plans, Benard favored a formal instead of topographical layout. He left the southwest corner of the site (where Haas Pavilion
, and Edwards Stadium
are today) as forest.
Emile Bénard declined to be appointed supervising architect, and in 1901 the position was offered to John Galen Howard
, the fourth-place winner of the competition. Although Howard was directed to execute Bénard's plan without any substantial departure, he made small alterations until the plan was more his than Bénard's. However, Howard was loyal to the Beaux-Arts character of Bénard's plan.
The competition brought Berkeley not only a building plan but worldwide notoriety. The London Spectator
wrote, "On the face of it this is a grand scheme, reminding one of those famous competitions in Italy in which Brunelleschi and Michelangelo took part. The conception does honor to the nascent citizenship of the Pacific states. . . ." At Oxford University, which at the time was strapped for funds, a Latin orator said, "There is brought a report that in California there is already established a university furnished with so great resources that even to the architects (a lavish kind of men) full permission has been given to spare no expense. Amidst the most pleasant hills on an elevated site, commanding a wide sea view, is to be placed a home of Universal Science and a seat of the muses."
His grand scheme, to no one's surprise, bore a certain resemblance to the Place de la Concorde
superimposed upon the bumps and creases of the Berkeley highlands. As required by the competition, Bénard's plan envisioned a campus for eight thousand students, although there were then only two thousand in the university. Critics called it absurdly visionary. (The number of students is now close to thirty thousand.)
Émile Bénard was later called to design a grand palace to house the national chambers of the Senate and Deputies in Mexico City. Although the construction of the building was well underway by 1910, the deposition of President Porfirio Díaz
and the subsequent revolution changed the project's fate which culminated with its cancellation. In the 1930s, when destruction of the incomplete structure was contemplated, architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia convinced the presidential administration to save the cupola of the building in the form of the Monumento à la Revolución (Monument to the Revolution). The monument that commemorates the revolution that halted Bénard's project stands today in Republic Square in Mexico City.
Goderville
Goderville is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A farming and light industrial town situated to the south of Fécamp, at the junction of the D10, D925 and D139 roads, in the Pays de Caux....
- October 15, 1929 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
), was a French architect and painter. Trained at the Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, Bénard was the winner of The Phoebe Hearst
Phoebe Hearst
Phoebe Apperson Hearst was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. She was also the mother of William Randolph Hearst.-Biography:...
International Architectural Competition and the Berkeley Campus in 1899 with his project "Roma." The competition and his design led to the current University of California, Berkeley Campus Architecture
University of California, Berkeley Campus Architecture
The University of California, Berkeley campus and its surrounding community are home to a number of notable buildings by early 20th-century campus architect John Galen Howard, his peer Bernard Maybeck , and Maybeck's student Julia Morgan...
.
Hearst International Architectural Competition
Bénard's design for the campus architecture won the competition for successfully addressing all of the concerns that the competition's jury had. Bénard's scheme won unanimous praise for having successfully addressed all of the jury's concerns. The elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
s were judged to be excellent in scale and proportion, with the drawings done beautifully. The only weakness noted was that some of the buildings in the upper part of the plan were too far from those with related departments, making some rearrangement necessary. In the end, the jury declared Bénard the architect to be entrusted with the execution of the work.
Bénard's campus plan
Bénard's plan was appropriately code-named "Roma" for the competition. The plan conjured a city of Parisian buildings organized along a sloping esplanadeEsplanade
An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...
. The axis continued off campus by way of a preexisting approach known as University Avenue, which led straight to the bay. His east-west axis included a square, treelined esplanade and formal garden. His plan contained many different sizes and shapes of buildings, with domes, courts, towers and different roof styles, instead of rows of buildings of the same size and shape. His plan made elegant use of Charter Hill, with stairs and buildings working their way up to a monument at the top. Moreover, unlike most of the other plans, and unlike the campus today, it afforded a view of the hill from strategic points in the central campus. Like the other plans, Benard favored a formal instead of topographical layout. He left the southwest corner of the site (where Haas Pavilion
Haas Pavilion
The Walter A. Haas, Jr. Pavilion is the home of the University of California's men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's gymnastics teams...
, and Edwards Stadium
Edwards Stadium
Edwards Stadium is the track & field and soccer venue for the University of California Golden Bears.This Art Deco-styled stadium was designed by architects Warren C. Perry and George W. Kelham, and named after Col. George C. Edwards, opening in 1932...
are today) as forest.
Emile Bénard declined to be appointed supervising architect, and in 1901 the position was offered to John Galen Howard
John Galen Howard
John Galen Howard was an American architect.He is best known for his work as the supervising architect of the Master Plan for the University of California, Berkeley campus, and for founding the University of California's architecture program...
, the fourth-place winner of the competition. Although Howard was directed to execute Bénard's plan without any substantial departure, he made small alterations until the plan was more his than Bénard's. However, Howard was loyal to the Beaux-Arts character of Bénard's plan.
The competition brought Berkeley not only a building plan but worldwide notoriety. The London Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
wrote, "On the face of it this is a grand scheme, reminding one of those famous competitions in Italy in which Brunelleschi and Michelangelo took part. The conception does honor to the nascent citizenship of the Pacific states. . . ." At Oxford University, which at the time was strapped for funds, a Latin orator said, "There is brought a report that in California there is already established a university furnished with so great resources that even to the architects (a lavish kind of men) full permission has been given to spare no expense. Amidst the most pleasant hills on an elevated site, commanding a wide sea view, is to be placed a home of Universal Science and a seat of the muses."
His grand scheme, to no one's surprise, bore a certain resemblance to the Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
superimposed upon the bumps and creases of the Berkeley highlands. As required by the competition, Bénard's plan envisioned a campus for eight thousand students, although there were then only two thousand in the university. Critics called it absurdly visionary. (The number of students is now close to thirty thousand.)
The Federal Legislative Palace of Mexico
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
and the subsequent revolution changed the project's fate which culminated with its cancellation. In the 1930s, when destruction of the incomplete structure was contemplated, architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia convinced the presidential administration to save the cupola of the building in the form of the Monumento à la Revolución (Monument to the Revolution). The monument that commemorates the revolution that halted Bénard's project stands today in Republic Square in Mexico City.
Academic
-
- Fine Arts Exhibition Palace, Paris. 1867. Winning entry of the Grand Prix de RomePrix de RomeThe Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
of architecture. - Palais GarnierPalais GarnierThe Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
, Paris. (assistant designer for Charles GarnierCharles Garnier (architect)Charles Garnier was a French architect, perhaps best known as the architect of the Palais Garnier and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.-Early life:...
).
- Fine Arts Exhibition Palace, Paris. 1867. Winning entry of the Grand Prix de Rome
Mexico
-
- Federal Legislative Palace, Mexico City. 1903-1912.
- National Pantheon, Mexico City. circa 1920.