(b Guyotville, Algeria, 31 Aug 1927). French architect. He studied architecture in Paris and then returned to Algeria where he opened an office in 1952. His first major work, the emergency cité de transit Djenan el-Hassan (1956–8), reflected his concern with the eradication of slum housing; its cellular construction, with individual vaulted roofs, echoed local architectural forms. In 1958 he was appointed to plan the new city of Thamugadi, which borders the famous Roman ruins. After the War of Independence Simounet moved to Paris (1963), but many of his works continued to address the problems of design for warm climates through the suitable expression of materials, massing and openings; examples include the student housing (1962–70) for the University of Tananarive, Madagascar, and a series of holiday homes in Corsica. Simounet became one of the most prolific museum builders in France in the 1970s and 1980s. His new buildings for the Musée de la Préhistoire de l’Ile-de-France (1975–9), Nemours, and the Musée d’Art Moderne du Nord (1978–83), Villeneuve d’Ascq, reveal a careful orchestration of natural lighting and details to enhance the individual display of works of art. He also won the limited competition for the conversion of the 17th-century Hôtel Salé in the Marais district of Paris into the Musée Picasso (1976–85); the austere and luminous quality of the white-washed walls and pristine volumes was generally acknowledged to be the perfect showcase for Picasso’s personal collection. In Saint-Denis he designed some low-cost housing (1983) in the shadow of the abbey; arranged around small courtyards, it alluded to the historic fortifications. The same parti was used in the les Fongères residential complex (1987-91) facing the Parc Citroën in Paris. Simounet was awarded the Grand Prix National d’Architecture in 1977. He claimed an indebtedness to Le Corbusier, especially to his Maisons Jaoul (1951–5), Paris, but his work seems perhaps closer to that of Louis Kahn in its rectilinear, Mediterranean forms and play with recesses and incisions to create an impression of depth and mystery in façades.

• Simounet, Roland
  • Lille, §2: Art life and organization