Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), French architect and theorist, preferred the Gothic style of architecture, not as a 19th-century revival style based on emotional associations but as a logical, reasoned, functional expression.

Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc considered that "The beauty of a structure ... [lies in] the judicious use of materials and means at the disposal of the constructor." His practical application of this theory centered in architectural reconstructions and renovations; his architectural designs are few.

Viollet-le-Duc was born in Paris on Jan. 27, 1814. He rejected the idea of a formal architectural education at the École des Beaux-Arts, and in 1830 he began to study architecture, first with J. J. M. Huvé and later with Achille Leclère. As professor of composition and ornament, he taught for a short period at the École de Dessin, Paris.

In 1840 the Commission of Historical Monuments assigned Viollet-le-Duc the...