ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 examines the French dominance of European culture, which emerged during the seventeenth century, and the political and mercantile forces that forged a collection of French academies, including the Académie d’Architecture. It also outlines how the academies came to hold sway over the guild system of architectural education. The various residences of the Académie during its existence are explored, particularly Le Vau’s plans for Mazarin’s College des Quatre-Nations drafted in 1662, which refers to an ‘Académie for Architecture’. Although when the building was completed it did not initially house an Académie, the note on Le Vau’s plan is the first known record of an institution to study architecture as a distinct discipline. Finally, this chapter discusses why the social standing of the architect increased during the eighteenth century and how during this time architecture came to be a more distinct profession.
