User:Jean lw lequeux/sandbox

Michel Joseph Lequeux
Architect Michel Joseph Lequeux's work undoubtedly dominates the architecture of the city of Lille, the capital of the French Flanders at the end of the 18th century. Furthermore, in the 19th Century, his style contributed to the Neoclassical Architecture of the buildings of Paris. He developed his know-how in less than ten years, with a strong unity in all his works which all remain for, except one, still visible in the 21st Century.

Early life
Michel Joseph Lequeux was born on the eve of Christmas 1753 (December 24th, 1753). He was the son of a sculptor and stone carver: in fact, Etienne Jospeh, his father, was more a stone carver than a sculptor as most of the family income came from the sale of tombstones. In 1766, he was admitted in the Lille Academic School of Art and Architecture. This school was free. It was created in 1755, and in 1760, a course of architecture was introduced by the Master Architect François Joseph Gombert.. He graduated in 1773. In 1774, he left for Paris to complete his training at the prestigious Ecoles des Beaux Arts de Paris where he met his master Claude-Nicolas Ledoux who introduced him to the Neoclassical Architecture.He returned in Lille in 1776. He obtained his first major project in 1777, the construction of the Hôtel d'Avelin (former seat of the Rectorate).