Ribart de Chamoust
Appearance
Charles-François Ribart was an 18th-century French architect.
Architectural career
In 1758, he planned an addition to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, to be constructed where the Arc de Triomphe now stands. It consisted of three levels, to be built in the shape of an elephant, with entry via a spiral staircase in the underbelly. The building was to have a form of air conditioning, and furniture that folded into the walls. A drainage system was to be incorporated into the elephant's trunk. The French Government, however, was not amused and turned him down.[1][2] Napoleon would later conceive a similar construction, the Elephant of the Bastille.
Little of his work now survives.
Notes
- ^ Digest, Reader's (1981). Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. Sydney: Readers Digest. p. 492. ISBN 0-89577-028-8.
- ^ Marquis, Caitlin; Sara O'Rourke; Andrea Halpern; Aliza Aufrichtig (2007). "Champs-Élysées: Arc de Triomphe". Let's Go 2008 France. Let's Go Publications. p. 136. ISBN 0-312-37453-4.
See also
- Lucy the Elephant
- Elephant of the Bastille, a Napoleon-era proposal to build an elephant-shaped fountain in Place de la Bastille.