As a student in Paris in the late 1970s, I remember queuing along the Avenue Montaigne for tickets outside the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. The soloist was the cellist Paul Tortelier, but it was the theatre's sublime elegance, rather than the swagger of the star performer, that made an impact that night. A milestone in Auguste Perret's early career, the project was a brilliant synthesis of his key concerns - in particular the use of reinforced concrete to celebrate structural clarity and integrity. The scheme's distinctive feature was a framework of posts and beams, combined with a controlled use of complementary materials and decoration, notably the work of both Maurice Denis and Emile-Antoine Bourdelle.
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