LEDOUX, Claude-Nicolas
(b. 1736, Dormans, d. 1806, Paris)

River inspector's house

1775-79
Engraving, 470 x 287 mm
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

After the outbreak of the revolution, Ledoux received scarcely any commissions, so he turned to writing. He developed an extended model of his ideal city, which acquired Utopian features in the visual translation of all important functions and didactic intentions. Water courses, for example, were to be diverted through the river inspector's house, which looked like a cylinder on its side.

The present engraving illustrates a proposed river inspector's house for River Loue.