Victor Louis (10 May 1731, Paris – 2 July 1800, Paris) was a French architect, disqualified on a technicality from winning the Prix de Rome in architecture in 1755.

Life

He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris. He did not adopt the name Victor until after he returned from a trip to Poland in 1765. In 1770 he married the pianist and composer Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon. They had a daughter, Marie-Hélène-Victoire, in 1774. A full biography of Victor Louis was published by Charles Marionneau in Bordeaux in 1881.

Work

Louis' masterpiece is the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux of 1780. He also designed other theatres, including the Salle Richelieu on the rue de Richelieu (1790, later to become the home of the Comédie-Française) and the Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi (1793, demolished). The Salle Richelieu was the first major building with a roof structure of iron which was selected for its fire-resistant qualities when compared with wood. Other buildings include the Intendance in Besançon (completed 1776), the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal in Paris (1781–1784), the Salle de Beaujolais (1782–83), and the Château du Bouilh near Bordeaux (1786–1789, unfinished).

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