Pro Scientia Urbe et Patria : l’architecture de la faculté de médecine et de pharmacie de Bordeaux, 1876-1888 et 1902-1922

Abstract

The building of the faculty of medicine and pharmacy was constructed from 1880 to 1888, following the plans of the architect Jean-Louis Pascal (1837-1920), after an architectural competition organised in 1876. It is one of the principal public buildings in Bordeaux dating from these early years of the Third French Republic. In 1902 the building was enlarged, according to the plans of the same architect. The ensemble can be seen as emblematic of the Republic’s determined policies where higher education was concerned. It also crystallized the complicated relations between the city of Bordeaux and the State. Pascal’s building is the result of an extremely intelligent process of conception, integrating the lessons which emerged from the nineteenth century’s various architectural currents.

Keywords

• Bordeaux
• architecture
• public architecture
• university architecture
• architectural competition
• Beaux-Arts school