(b Paris, 9 May 1924). French architect. He was one of the architects in the late 1960s to resume designing in the classical tradition of French architecture. He completed a comparatively small number of projects, and these were widely controversial due to their classical aesthetic, urban location and use of symbolism. Notable examples are the additions to the Palais du Luxembourg, Paris, an arcaded block of flats for the French Senate (1972–6) in Rue de Vaugirard, Paris, and the rebuilding (1980–86) of the approaches to the cathedral at Orléans. Langlois’s approach is comparable to that of Quinlan Terry in England or Manzano Monis in Spain, in that the distinctive contribution of these architects lay primarily in their determination to pass on a vital classical or vernacular culture rather than search for a new architectural vocabulary. Langlois’s work was discussed in heated debates that focused on the artistic significance of such concepts as imitation, copy and pastiche. His later works include the Conseil Régional du Limousin building (1986–8), Limoges, the Conseil Général de la Manche building (1986–8) in Saint-Lô and the enlargement (1988) of the Pont de Bercy, Paris. He was architect-in-chief of the French Senate from 1966 and a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts from 1977.

• Langlois, Christian (Jacques)
  • Orléans, §1: History and urban development