Pierre Debeaux

Pierre Amédée Bernard Debeaux was born on July 19, 1925, in Mazères-sur-Salat. His father, François Jean Bernard Debeaux (1901–1984) was an electrical engineer who taught industrial design at both the Ecole des Beaux-arts and the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse. The Debeaux family lived in Toulouse and had a second home in Saint-Denis-les-Martel in the Lot.[4]

He attended the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat in Toulouse from 1935–1943 and graduated with a baccalaureate in mathematics, followed by a baccalaureate in philosophy under the tutelage of Jean-Pierre Vernant. He remained a fervent admirer of Vernant's Hellenism throughout his life, and was also influenced by Vernant's involvement in the Resistance.

Debeaux obtained a degree in architecture from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in June 1950 with a project for an agricultural tool forge. He was awarded the prize for the best national diploma and became a registered architect in1950.[5][6]

During the 1960s and 1970s, he embarked on several major research trips to discover different cultures and heritages: Siberia and China (1966); Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia (1967 and 1971); India, Nepal and Kashmir (1968); Mexico (1969); Siberia and Japan (1970); Indonesia and Sri Lanka (1972); and Turkey (1974). These journeys added an Orientalist influence to Debeaux's work.[7]

From 1954 to 1972, Debeaux was part of the "Atelier des Architectes Associés", which he co-founded. He devoted much of his time to research into harmonic relationships and three-dimensional structures. Between 1966 and 1989, he filed a series of patents in France, Europe and the United States for three-dimensional structures.[8]

He is known for buildings such as the observatory of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, built between 1951–1966 (Debeaux was only 26 when he began the project); the Jacques Vion fire station (1966–1972) and the Monument à la Gloire de la Résistance (1965–1971) in Toulouse, and the landmarked Pradier house (1974–1978) in the Tarn.[9][10][11] Charlotte Perriand was commissioned to design unique furniture pieces for the Pradier house. These pieces were sold at Sotheby's in 2020.[12][13]

In 1958 Debeaux became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-arts in Toulouse.[14]

In 1973 he was awarded the Charles-Henri Besnard prize for the innovative metal roof structure design of the Jacques Vion fire station.[15]

In 1981, he won the Académie d'Architecture's "Beau Béton" competition for the Pradier house.[16]

Debeaux made artistic and scientific contributions to the Musée des Augustins between 1965 and 1992.[14]

Pierre Debeaux and his partner Elisabeth Cardo had one daughter, Charlotte, born in Toulouse in 1985.

Debeaux suffered a stroke in November 1997. He died in Toulouse in January 2001.[14]

Debeaux's Pradier house and Monument to the Glory of the Resistance are protected French national landmarks.[10] An initiative was begun in 2023 to add the Jacques Vion fire station to the French register of protected monuments.[17][18][19]

• 
  Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatory
• 
  Water tower (Chateau d'eau) of the Marchant Hospital
• 
  Musée des Augustins
• 
  Jacques Vion fire station, principal façade
• 
  Jacques Vion fire station, "grande halle"
• 
  Jacques Vion fire station, structural details (grande halle)
• 
  Jacques Vion firestation, balcony detail

• 1956 Citroën building (with Atelier des Architectes Associés)[20][lower-alpha 1]
• 1956 Extension of groupe scolaire Jules Julien (with Roger Brunerie)[lower-alpha 1]
• 1956 Groupe scolaire Molière, Saint Cyprien, Toulouse (with Roger Brunerie)[lower-alpha 1]
• 1956 Primary school, Jolimont, Toulouse (with Roger Brunerie)[21][lower-alpha 2]
• 1956 Primary school, Sept Deniers, Toulouse (with Roger Brunerie)[lower-alpha 2]
• 1957 Fabre kindergarden, Toulouse[lower-alpha 2]
• 1959 Martin house, Engomer[lower-alpha 2]
• 1961 Martin house, Castelnaudary[lower-alpha 2]
• 1961 Recherche Institute, Bagnère de Bigorre[lower-alpha 1]
• 1963 Water tower, route d'Espagne[lower-alpha 1]
• 1969 Villa Chanfreau, Cote Pavée, Toulouse[22][lower-alpha 1]
• 1971 Monument to the Glory of the Resistance, Toulouse (with Atelier des Architectes Associés)[23][lower-alpha 3]
• 1975 Observatory, Pic du Midi de Bigorre[lower-alpha 1]
• 1967 Jacques Vion fire station, Toulouse[24][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]
• 1969 Vessières apartment building, Toulouse[lower-alpha 2]
• 1970 Pham Huu Chan house, Clermont-le-Fort[lower-alpha 2]
• 1977 Pradier house, Lavaur[lower-alpha 3]

• Gruet, Stéphane (2005). Éditions POÏESIS (ed.). Pierre Debeaux, architecte (1955–2001): L'artiste et le géomètre. p. 104. ISBN 978-2951895317.[8]
• Marfaing, Jean-Loup; Papillault, Rémi (2013). Presses Universitaires du Mirail (ed.). Du moderne au brutalisme, 13 villas à l’épreuve du temps. p. 167. ISBN 978-2-8107-0268-8.
• Saint-Pierre, Raphaëlle (2013). Norma, Renne (ed.). Villas 60-70 en France. p. 320. ISBN 978-2-9155-4242-4.

• Pierre DEBEAUX architecte, brief documentary film, 1973 (in French)
• Caserne de pompiers Jacques Vion, detailed documentation stored on DoCoMoMo (Fiche inventaire, in French)

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