ABSTRACT
During the late modern period, construction using early concrete underwent an unprecedented development in France - in particular in the Lyon region. This type of masonry was created by compacting different materials (typically earth or mortar with gravel) cast in place and rammed within removable timber formwork. The procedure derived not only from vernacular techniques but also from academic circles looking to revive one form of the ancien structura caementicia, the emplekton masonry. From the 18th century onwards, this formed the basis for the use of new masonry using small fragments such as shards and rough stones. The discoveries of the engineer Louis-Joseph Vicat (1786-1861) allowed the regular and standardized production of high-strength mortars and led to the first practical applications of cast masonry in architecture. The engineer and manufacturer François Coignet (1814-1888) pioneered the potential large-scale uses of this system for the construction of important buildings, residences or even aqueducts. In the Lyon region, the aesthetic aims of the architects Gaspard André (1840-1896) and Tony Garnier (1869-1948) reveal a paradigm shift which resulted from the new importance given by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) and his successors to monolithic masonry in the story of the origins of architecture, of which these new techniques would provide a distant echo.
