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His designs emphasize simple, symmetrical geometric shapes. Boullée's refined designs often were inspired by antiquity, for example, his Château de Chaville, 1764 built for Tessé family, and Hôtel de Brunoy, 1774 (since demolished).
As an architectural academician, he taught at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (school of bridges and causeways) and the Académie Royale d'Architecture.
His book Architecture, essai sur l'art (essay on the art of architecture) written in the last decade of his life was not published until 1953. The volume contained his work from 1778 to 1788, which was mostly public buildings on a scale so grand they could never be executed. He has been characterized as both a megalomaniac and a visionary. One of his most well-known designs is a cenotaph (empty tomb) in honor of Isaac Newton 1784Events January 6 the Turks agree to Russia's annexation of the Crimea in the Treaty of Constantinople January 14 The U. Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with England to end the American Revolutionary War February 27 Count of St Germain dies of pneumo. His focus on polarity (offsetting opposite design elements) and the use of light and shadow mark him as a visionary theoretician.