Gilbert, Émile-Narcisse-Jacques

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Gilbert, Émile-Narcisse-Jacques (1793–1874). French architect. A pupil of Durand, he became an expert on the design of hospitals, asylums, and prisons. He was influenced by Hittorff, as can be seen in his severe Greek Doric chapel with polychrome interior at the enormous lunatic asylum (Asile d'Aliénés) at Charenton (1838–45—consisting of a series of elongated blocks linked by colonnaded walk-ways). His buildings were the expression of humanitarian reform and its administration. They include the Préfecture de la Police, Île de la Cité, Paris (1862–76), and the impressive Hôtel-Dieu (hospital) near by, designed with his son-in-law, Arthur-Stanislas Diet (1827–90), and built 1864–76.

Bibliography

Middleton & and Watkin (1987)

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