The Royal Saltworks, Arc-et-Senans, France


Related person
Claude Nicolas Ledoux (architect)
Date
1775-1779 (creation);1918 (lightning destroyed chapel);1926 (some buildings dynamited);1930 (restoration);1982 (became a World Heritage Site)
Location
Europe->France->Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Région->Arc-et-Senans
Description
The saltworks were built as an ideal factory with a radial arrangement of buildings. The Director's Residence was the center of the panopticon, with the manufacturing facilities and worker housing radiating out from it. In addition to the Director's Residence, the complex includes two manufacturing buildings (flanking the Residence), a Coopers' building, a Blacksmiths' building, and facilities for clerks and other administrative workers. It was intended that the Saltworks be the center of an idealized city that was never built.
Style/Period
18th Century (1700 - 1799 CE)
Material
deciduous trees
concrete
masonry
stone
or earth