André Ravéreau

Biography

André Ravéreau, born July 29, 1919, in Limoges and died October 12, 2017, in Aubenas, was a French architect. In 1980, he received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He was elevated to the rank of Achir in the Algerian Order of National Merit in 2012. He studied under Auguste Perret at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1946 and 1950. In 1949, while still a student, he traveled to the M'zab Valley in Algeria. The harmony of Mozabite architecture was decisive in his understanding of construction; this trip inspired a true architectural lesson for him. "Like everyone else, I was captivated by Ghardaïa before I could analyze it." We have the intuition that things possess a balance that we call aesthetic, even before we know what a balance is. It was analysis that taught me this later; I saw in the M'Zab both the rigor I loved in Perret, whose student I was, and the exhilarating forms found in Le Corbusier." In 1965, André Ravéreau was approached by the Algerian Ministry of Information and Culture to become Chief Architect of Historic Monuments. Based in Ghardaïa, he obtained the classification of the Sidi Okba Mosque and the city of Ghardaïa as Algerian historic monuments, thus paving the way for Ghardaïa to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1970, he created the ministry's first workshop—the M'Zab Valley Study and Restoration Workshop—which enabled a few young architects who applied to carry out numerous surveys of Mozabite houses. He did not imitate the forms of vernacular architecture but sought to understand it in order to better integrate his projects within the depths of a culture. In 1973, with the help of Naït Ali, a senior Algerian official at the Ministry of the Interior, André Ravéreau created a second workshop, E.R.S.A.U.R.E., more commonly known as the Ghardaïa Workshop or, in retrospect, the Desert Workshop. He saw it as an opportunity to offer a different kind of education from the one he had received at the Beaux-Arts, based on learning a constructive culture through practice, through construction. Many houses were restored and some new constructions were completed, including the low-cost housing of Sidi Abbaz. In 1975, André Ravéreau settled permanently in France. With the help of his right-hand man, his partner Manuelle Roche, he wrote and published his first book, Le M'Zab, une leçon d'architecture (The M'Zab, a Lesson in Architecture). From his Ardèche residence, he continued to design site-specific architecture. In 1980, he received the Aga Khan Architecture Award for the Mopti Health Center. Then, in 1983, he was awarded the Silver Medal for Urban Planning by the Academy of Architecture for his lifetime achievement. In 2012, he received the Algerian Medal of Merit for his contribution to the promotion of heritage. Subsequently, his work as a consulting architect for the C.A.U.E. of Lozère from 1985 to 1993, inspired numerous publications with renewed ambitions. Until the age of 98, he tirelessly pursued these various works, faithfully illustrated with the photographic collections of Manuelle Roche, and continually enriched with new reflections. André Ravéreau died on October 12, 2017, in Aubenas, Ardèche.