Jules Lavirotte

He subsequently studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the tutelage of Paul Blondel (1847–97), and gained his architect's diploma there in 1894.

The first two buildings benefited from Lavirotte's collaboration with Alexandre Bigot, a chemistry professor who imported the technology of making glazed earthenware tiles, which he had seen at the 1889 Paris Exposition.

In 1907, he designed the villa Dupont, located at 2 rue Balzac in Franconville, Val-d'Oise, in the Paris suburbs.

While the style of the facade is largely Louis XV, it also includes a display of the imaginative details and exuberant decoration that characterize the work of Lavirotte.

The building is separated from the street by an ornamental grill and small fountain by Lavirotte, which frames a remarkable view of the Eiffel Tower.

The large scale deployment of glazed earthenware on the facade of the Lavirotte Building in 1901 was the first example of its kind in the West.

[4] Glazed tiles embedded in the stone and in the bricks are the work of ceramicist Alexandre Bigot; the building proved to be an effective advertisement for his wares.

The building at 29 avenue Rapp also had a highly exotic door frame designed by the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Larrive, and sculpted by Messrs Théobald-Joseph Sporrer, Firmin-Marcelin Michelet, and Alfred Jean Halou.

The sculptural decoration of climbing plants on the exterior of the first floor is signed by the sculptor Camille Alaphilippe, a winner of the Prix de Rome given by the Academy of Fine Arts.