Biography

French architect, designer and painter. He Won the Grand Prix d'Architecture in 1752, and was pensionnaire of the French Academy in Rome from 1754 to 1756.

In the early stage of his career, de Wailly was known as an ornament designer and decorator. He published engravings of his designs for vases and furniture, and he worked on Ange Jacques Gabriel's Opéra at Versailles (1767-1700) as well as on some stage settings for Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni. In Paris, he constructed, together with Marie-Joseph Peyre the Théâtre de l'Odéon originally intended to house the Comédie Française, which, however, preferred to stay at the Théâtre-Français in the Palais Royal.

Later on, he expanded his career to include urban planning and public and private civil architecture.

He was member of the Académie Royale d'Architecture (1767) and the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture (1771).