French architect, construction entrepreneur and town planner Auguste Perret was a world leader and specialist in reinforced concrete construction. He worked on a new interpretation of the neo-classical style. His brothers Gustave and Claude were also architects, all born in Bruxelles, Belgium, where their parents were exiled to after the Paris Commune in 1871. In the 1940s, Auguste Perret began teaching architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he had studied from 1891-1901. Before World War II, the brothers worked in Paris, notably building the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Auguste worked for many years in the French colonies in North-Africa, Egypt and Turkey. After the war, Auguste Perret became a town planner in Le Havre building the first skyscraper in France at Amiens, designing broad boulevards and long street center lines. He was the first president of the Association of Architects in 1941 and elected full member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1943. He was appointed Knight and later Officer of the Legion of Honor for the promotion of exhibiting Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts.
France