Germain Boffrand (French pronunciation: [ʒɛʁmɛ̃ bɔfʁɑ̃]) (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was one of the most gifted French architects of his generation. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the style Régence, and in his interiors, of the Rococo itself. In his exteriors he held to a monumental Late Baroque classicism with some innovations in spatial planning that were exce...
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Germain Boffrand (French pronunciation: [ʒɛʁmɛ̃ bɔfʁɑ̃]) (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was one of the most gifted French architects of his generation. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the style Régence, and in his interiors, of the Rococo itself. In his exteriors he held to a monumental Late Baroque classicism with some innovations in spatial planning that were exceptional in France His major commissions, culminating in his interiors at the Hôtel de Soubise, were memorialised in his treatise Le livre d'architecture, published in 1745, which served to disseminate the French "Louis XV" style throughout Europe.
Born at Nantes, the son of a provincial architect, Boffrand went to Paris in 1681 and began by studying sculpture in the atelier of François Girardon, before entering the large official practice of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. His uncle Philippe Quinault introduced him to prospective clients among the...
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