Fernand Pouillon

Fernand Pouillon (14 May 1912 – 24 July 1986) was a French architect, urban planner, building contractor and writer.
Pouillon was one of the most active and influential post-World War II architects and builders in France. He is remembered for his use of ‘noble’ building materials (especially stone), his seamless integration of all phases of the building process, his inexpensive and efficient building techniques and for his harmonious juxtaposition of forms. Due to his success and his imperious personality, he attracted the jealousy and ill-will of many. His was a tumultuous life, including prison time and a prison escape. Some architectural critics say he will be remembered as one of the great architects of the 20th century.
Early life, early career and architectural degree.
Pouillon was born 14 May 1912 in Cancon, Lot-et-Garonne, the son of Alexis Pouillon, a civil engineer and entrepreneur. The family was in this region because Alexis Pouillon was working on a railroad project. The family subsequently moved back to Marseille. 
At the age of 15, Pouillon attended the School of Beaux-Arts of Marseille, where, for one year, he studied drawing, sculpture and architecture (he did not obtain an official architecture degree until the Vichy period). He then moved to Paris, where he worked on both the construction and commercial sides of the building sector for several years. At the age of 22, he built his first project (le Palais Albert I) in Aix-en-Provence (at the time, an architecture degree was not required for such a role). 
This prolonged, ‘hands-on’ contact with all facets of the construction process differentiated Pouillon from many of his contemporaries, whose approach to architecture was more academic. 
Pouillon was mobilised for the défense of France in 1939 until 16 July 1940. The World War II period of German occupation proved to be a calm one for the building trades in France. After demobilisation, Pouillon supported his family by doing small projects and by selling antiques. He also used this lull in construction activity to earn his architectural degree in 1942. 
The immediate post-War II period.
Due to damage from the War and rapid economic and population growth, post-War France had a pressing need for housing and infrastructure development. In Marseille, in particular, a whole quartier in the Old Port (Vieux Port) had been destroyed in 1943. The architects that had originally taken up the re-building task could not deliver buildings at affordable costs. 
In contrast, Pouillon prospered in the face of this challenge - he was an architect who could answer the call to ‘build fast, build cheaply and build well.’ He started with centres for refugees and prisoners of war — projects with very short deadlines. He also worked with August Perret on the reconstruction of the Vieux Port and on an apartment building (1947-1953).
Another urban renewal project in Marseille — la Tourette, overlooking the Vieux Port (1948-1953) — made Pouillon’s reputation as an architect who could build beautiful buildings and neighbourhoods, rapidly and cheaply. This project was the platform from which Pouillon’s career was launched. 
During this time, Pouillon perfected a construction system based largely on natural materials and close contact with artisans and artists. The system involved designs that (in addition to responding to human wants and needs) could be efficiently built using materials and technical components that had been standardised in advance with project suppliers. He also developed and used a ‘co-ordinating office’ charged with project conception and with regulating the activities of the various actors on the construction site. 
Success, prison and exile.
In the early- and mid-1950s, Pouillon’s architectural practice was booming, with numerous projects in France, Algeria and Iran. 
At that time, Pouillon came to be increasingly based in Paris, where he embarked on a number of huge housing projects in the Parisian suburbs: Pantin, Montrouge, Meudon and Boulogne Billancourt. 
These were exceptional projects, creating thousands of (often low-income) apartments, built with stone and benefiting from such amenities as courtyards, water features, gardens and art work. In pursuing these projects, Pouillon tended to adopt the same mix of roles he knew from his early career (e.g, he was both project architect and real estate developer). This, however, was no longer legal as it was thought to create conflicts of interest.
On 5 March 1961, Pouillon was arrested and imprisoned (awaiting trial) for his roles in developing the Point du Jour housing project in Boulogne Billancourt, a suburb near Paris. The charges included fraud and misuse of corporate assets related to his attempts to hide his violation of regulations separating architects’ roles from project development and finance. Specifically, Pouillon had used false identities and corporate entities to participate in the development and finance of the Point du Jour project. 
On the 23 September 1961, Pouillon was ejected from the French Order of Architects.
In September 1962, Pouillon escaped from prison (actually, from a prison health clinic), but, after several months, returned for his trial. He presented his own défense, was found guilty, but was partially acquitted on appeal, and received a sentence that was approximately the time he had already spent in detention while awaiting trial.
While in prison he wrote the "Les Pierres Sauvages" ("The Stones of the Abbey"), a book in which he imagines the medieval construction of Le Thoronet Abbey. The novel won an influential literary award (Les Deux Magots). In subsequent years he wrote more books, including his mémoires. 
Pouillon was released from prison on 24 September 1964 (some sources contend that his release was also due to poor health - he had contracted an amoeba infection, reportedly in Iran). Thus, he spent a total of about three years in prison.
Because he had also been thrown out of the French Order of Architects, he could no longer practice architecture in France. In order to continue working, he moved to Algeria, where he had a successful practice with a focus on tourism and housing. He lived in Algeria from 1966 to 1984. 
Rehabilitation in France and death.
By the 1970s, influential people in France were having second thoughts about the treatment accorded to Pouillon: 
In 1972, he was pardoned by the French President Georges Pompidou. 
In 1978, he was reintegrated into the French Order of Architects. 
Pouillon returned definitively to France in 1984.
In 1985, he was named an Officer of the Légion d’Honour (the French Order of Merit) by the French President François Mitterrand.
He spent the last years of his life at Château de Belcastel, a medieval castle in the Aveyron department, which he had restored together with Algerian craftsmen.
He died in the Château de Belcastel on 24 July 1986. It is said that he had requested that his final resting place not show his name.