Tony Garnier

Another case of a homonym that could have caused trouble to its bearer, Tony Garnier. Born in 1869, died in 1948, he certainly suffered from the comparison with Charles Garnier, the designer of the Opéra de Paris, even if their styles are totally opposite. The author traces the life of the architect from Lyons, born in a family from the textile bourgeoisie of Croix-Rousse, and examines each of his major works: the stadium of Gerland, the slaughter houses of la Mouche, Garnier’s iconic masterpiece together with the Grande Halle, the hospital Edouard-Herriot, the Cité des Etats-Unis. All of these works are in Lyons, except for his last, belated creation, when he was past the age of 60 and WW II interrupted that last enthusiasm: the townhall at Boulogne-Billancourt. The key question remains: why was an author considered very young in life as a visionnary -when he published his work La cité industrielle (1904), the demonstration of the vital function of townplaning - why was his influence so reduced compared to that of his almost contemporary Le Corbusier?

• Tony Garnier, by Pierre Gras, Editions du Patrimoine, 2013, 192 p., €22 .