Jacques Hermant

Who was Jacques Hermant?

Jacques-René Hermant was a French architect, one of the most renowned architects of fin-de-siècle Paris.

Born in Paris, the son of the architect Achille Hermant, Hermant was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts under Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer. He was a rationalist architect, but was a strong advocate for the neoromanticism style of the time, preferably the style of Louis XIII. Hermant became an advocate for concrete construction and erected two of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Paris, collaborating with the French engineer Edmond Coignet, who patented his system in 1892.

Hermant was a Professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and served as chief architect for the city. He employed the Danish architect Hack Kampmann during Kampmann's stay in Paris in 1883.