The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans

The portico and gateway at the entrance of the Royal Saltworks, Arc-et- Senans

Salt was a valuable commodity in 18th Century France, and its prevalence running through seems of rock emerging in salt water wells and springs in the Franche-Comte region resulted in this resource being extracted at a number of locations for many centuries; the nearby town of Salins-les-Bains has had saltworks in operation for over a thousand years.

Claude Nicolas Ledoux [1736 -1806], architect du roi, was chosen to design, build and manage the saltworks, and he described the site by way of a bird's eye view of Chaux/Arc-et-Senans remarking as follows:

"High in the air, soaring over the ocean of verdure, I assemble all the powers. I am going to apportion the earth. I will endow it with the brilliance that the sun, at its apogee, refuses to those countries darkened by the cold shadows of the north. I will revive the marvellous fields of the most august antiquity. There I will sow the seeds of the arts; I will develop their resources to ensure the happiness of mankind"

Ledoux was an inspired visionary, and intellectual born out of the French neoclassical tradition. Many of his unexecuted projects survive in the form of engravings published in his "L'Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l'art, des mœurs et de la législation" [1804]. His thoughts and reflections that are exhibited in the written asides not only describe the projects set forth in the engravings but give insights into his reasoning, muses and mentality.

The Saltworks were built between 1774 and 1779 and were part of a larger unexecuted project for Ledoux's utopian and ideal Ville de Chaux to be built close to the forest of Chaux and the banks of the river Loue. The unexecuted Ville de Chaux embodied many of Ledoux's principals, ideals, and characterisation of social purpose. In a novel departure for his time, a number of his buildings' exteriors reflected an interior purpose or function, and while often appearing uncomplicated in form and decoration, harmonies of proportion, scale, symmetry and geometry are key to their success and appreciation. The symbolic motifs of the waters flowing from wells are repeated in a decorative manner along many of the walls in the complex and indeed in the simulated carved masonry cave incorporated into the entrance portico and gate.

Motif of a spring set into the simulated cave at the entrance

Repeated motif of water flowing from the wall at the entrance of the Royal Saltworks

At first Ledoux's philosophy and concepts are difficult to visualise, but in visiting Arc-et-Senans, and the pure still waters of the River Loue that passes close by, you can imagine and conceive an Arcadian landscape or classical world even today.

Amidst the semicircular arrangement of the buildings is not only the basis of the social order on site, with the Directors house at the centre of the diameter of the semicircle, and the workers apartments or lodgings with gardens radiating in arcs around it, but there is a natural working process or production line in place here as well. The buildings where the coopers and wood workers were to produce the barrels, and where the salt was to be "cooked" were set out in flanking structures on either side of the Director's House.

The Director's House

Much has been written and expounded upon this architect's philosophy and desire to create a relationship between civilisation and nature, and man's place within the world, however not to the exclusion of industry and commerce, as the Royal Saltworks were to be a commercial enterprise. When one considers the strict regimented codes and rules to be adhered to in the neoclassical tradition, it is intriguing that Ledoux developed along such a path while not so surprising that he favoured the abstract, versatile and uniform Grecian Doric Order in many of his works. Ledoux and a contemporary, Etienne-Louis Boullee [1728-1799], stand out today as precursors and heralds of the modern age of architectural design; many of their designs being audacious and on a very grand scale.

One of the buildings in the Royal Saltworks, originally where the workers resided, now houses an exhibition of models based upon the projects of Ledoux. The presentation of these models is very sympathetic and offers a great opportunity to experience and view many projects that were not executed.

Project for a Furnace

Royal Saltworks, Arc-et-Senans

The Circles Pavillion or Coopers' Workshop

There has been little change to the countryside in this part of Franche Comte; the arrival of the railways have made it accessible, but motorways and roads and other modern developments have not altered the landscape to any great degree. The failure of the Royal Saltworks to work on a commercial level, combined with the prevalence of agriculture and forestry, might in some part have probably allowed this part of France to drift in time without major interference.

In conclusion, it seems apt that Ledoux made reference to Baron de Montesquieu in his writings as follows:

"Montesquieu created a code of laws for nations. For the first time, art brings together natural laws, and composes a social system: it commands well-being in all situations, in all everyday delights: it ties its seductive powers to the innate rights of man, and joins the industry to the inevitable luxury that develops the resources of states; taking form all forms to give all impulses, it forces the rich to give to the poor the honorable tribute that one owes to work. Art, which will finally harmonise all the nuances of life, with the dignity which will banish unequal fortunes, after having created happiness, will force them to retreat."

"L'Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l'art, des mœurs et de la législation" [1802], Volume 3.