“Architecture of Production”, Anthony Vidler

“The architecture of this ensemble is deliberately theatrical; it is a dramatic combination of abstract elements of geometry in space, defining the volume of each pavilion, together with the architectural motifs carved into the porous stone that stand out beneath the boldly arranged tile roofs. These motifs — entrance porticoes, rusticated two-storey serlianas, sculpted urns and bas-relief gargoyles — are so many borrowed pieces adapted to the elementary forms demanded by ‘necessity’: an almost direct illustration of D’Alembert’s definition of architecture. […]

For Ledoux, this architecture concealed a double symbolism: on the one hand, the omnipresent power of the director and his deputies, who oversee production as agents of the king’s power; and, on the other, a community of workers and craftsmen carefully organised for the promotion of morality and civility. […]

As type and metaphor, the theatrical plan gave substance and coherence to the complex mixture of social and political idealism at Chaux, which stood between the pre-panoptic symbolism of surveillance and the proto-Rousseauian model of community. […]

Placed at the centre of the radii, nothing escapes surveillance. […] The eye easily watches over the shortest line; the worker covers it with a quick step; the burden of the journey is lightened by the hope of a prompt return. Everything obeys this combination that perfects the law of movement.”

[Own translation from Spanish.]