Paul Tournon

Paul Tournon (b. 19 February 1881 – 22 December 1964) was a French architect. He was born in Marseille and died in Paris.

He was an architect in chief of many French civil buildings and national palaces, and a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Biography He entered the Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1902 under the tutelage of Louis Henri Georges Scellier de Gisors in his studio, graduating with the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1911. He completed his architect's diploma in 1912. He founded his own firm in 1914 and took part in competitions in designing several war memorials after the war . As a young architect, he was commissioned to rebuild the town of Compiègne. He continued to take part in several exhibitions in the 1920s and 1930s.

Tournon became famous for the design and construction of many religious buildings in France and Morocco using reinforced concrete, including the Église Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus in Élisabethville (Yvelines), the Église du Saint-Esprit in Paris, and the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur in Casablanca. He often collaborated with sculptor Carlo Sarrabezolles, featuring his extensive sculptural work in his buildings. He also collabored with various artists involved in the revival of religious art: glassmakers Marguerite Huré, Louis Barillet, Jacques Le Chevallier, ironworker Raymond Subes, painters Marcel Imbs and Maurice Denis. Rue Lhomond residence, perspective view of façade and gable wall, Archives nationales, 377 AP 236. He took on a considerable number of public commissions during his career. He was appointed architect for the Banque de France in 1940, and architect of civil buildings and national palaces for several monuments. He began teaching at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in 1925, becoming its director in 1942, as well as the director of École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs. He was elected President of the Société Centrale des Architectes from 1945 to 1948.

In 1942, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Gustave Umbdenstock's place.

As an experienced architect, he had several students including Georges-Henri Pingusson and André Remondet.

Key Achievements

Personal life The dome of the Église du Saint-Esprit (Church of the Holy Spirit) in Paris, which Tournon designed. Tournon was the son-in-law of Édouard Branly (1889–1972), a painter, the husband of Élisabeth Branly-Tournon, painter. He and Élisabeth had two daughters: Florence Tournon-Branly (1923–1981), a stained glass designer, and Marion Tournon-Branly (1924–2016), architect and professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the Fontainebleau Schools.

Death and legacy He was interred and is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. His archives and his daughter Marion's archives are kept at the Archives Nationales under the reference 377 AP3.