L'architecture Vivante and its Extraits

Abstract

J Badovici, a Romanian by birth, studied architecture in Paris at the École des Beaux Arts and the École Spéciale d’Architecture, where he earned his degree in 1919. His subsequent architectural practice consisted largely in his participation in the post-WWII reconstruction of several towns in northeast France, and a minor role in his earlier collaboration on his own houses in Vézelay and Cap-Martin with his then-lover, the Irish designer Eileen Gray. But it was as an editor and author, in books and periodicals throughout the 1920s and 30s, that he played a pivotal role in the documentation and dissemination of the international architectural avant-garde. And the informal architectural education he provided Gray, along with the publication of its most prominent result – the house at Cap-Martin known as E.1027 – both gave birth to and preserved one of the era’s residential masterpieces. Badovici published his fi rst book, Maisons de rapport de Charles Plumet, for Éditions Albert Morancé in early 1923.1 On the strength of this one book, Morancé’s friendly rival, Albert Levy, recruited Badovici to edit a revival of the review l’Architecte, which had ceased publication at the start of the fi rst World War. Badovici signed a contract on May 30th, promising the fi rst monthly issue for February 1924, as well as two books each year similar to the one on Plumet; suggested subjects included Plumet (again), Sauvage, Perret, Süe et Mare, and Dervaux. The contract, however, was voided the same day, as Levy balked at the cost of supporting both Badovici and Christian Zervos – Badovici’s friend, roommate, and fellow Morancé editor – as co-editors. It is unclear whether this dual editorship was planned from the start (it is not mentioned in Badovici’s