University of Virginia Library

6. FREYSSINET

The spring 1931 issue of l'Architecture Vivante was dedicated to the concrete
structures of Eugene Freyssinet, with articles by Badovici and Freyssinet, seven
pages of drawings, and twenty-five plates. The associated extrait was issued that
same year under thetitle Grandes constructions réalisées par E. Freyssinet . 45 The title
makes an oblique reference to Badovici's 1927 portfolio, Grandes constructions: Bé-
ton armé-acier-verre, issued as part of Morancé's Documents d'Architecture series, and
its half-title page even identifies it as "deuxième série." This remains an obscure
reference, though, as the earlier publication is never directly mentioned. In Oc-
tober of 1931, the two were advertised together in l'Encyclopédie de l'Architecture,
but even there they are not presented as a pair, and the differences in the titles
emphasized as much as their similarities. 46 In later advertisements for the extraits,
Badovici and Morancé actually include Grandes constructions: Béton armé-acier-verre
as part of the l'Architecture Vivante series, but it is listed under a separate heading
as the Freyssinet title, with no attempt to link them thematically. 47

The cover follows the original layout of the l'Architecture russe en URSS series,
with rust-colored type superimposed on a gray and white background, and a
blank rear cover. Inside, the first signature is replaced to reflect the new title, and
an additional signature is added to the end to include a new table of contents; otherwise the contents
remain unchanged from the original (fig. 6.1, plate 8).
Two auction records I have seen list twenty-seven and twenty-eight plates respec-
tively, instead of the twenty-five listed in the table of contents and in Morancé's
advertising for the portfolio (and the one copy of the volume that I have seen in
person); I have been unable to verify the accuracy of these listings. 48

The portfolio was reissued some time later, with the contents more closely
following the state of the original review than the extrait of 1931. In the copy
from the Eisenman Collection held at the Beinecke Library, the original som-
maire is retained, although the signature with the l'Architecture Vivante title page
with its HIVER MCM XXXI date has been removed. The portfolio covers have
been reprinted as well in a more sober manner. The typography is in brown on
a gray background, in a matter-of-fact layout and a vernacular, sans-serif type-
face, giving it a decidedly undesigned look. The paper covering the cardboard
covers also appears to be recycled from earlier publications: the clue here is the
continued use of the lotus emblem on the rear cover, but we will see later that
similar portfolio covers are printed on the backs of undistributed l'Architecture
Vivante fascicule covers (fig. 6.2, plate 9). The reuse of materials, both in the
contents and for the reprinted covers, and the simplified cover design bothsug-

gest that this reissue occurred during the Occupation. This is reinforced by the
several copies I have seenof these redesigned portfolios with ownership dates,
all of which are from the early 1940s.