Lequeu

Lequeu: An Architectural Enigma is a comprehensive 1986 architectural study by Philippe Duboy that examines the anomalous life and legacy of 18th-century French draftsman Jean-Jacques Lequeu.

Published by Thames & Hudson, this academic volume reproduces Lequeu's complete portfolios from the Bibliothèque Nationale, including Architecture civile, Nouvelle méthode, and his controversial Lewd Figures. Duboy's biographical research refutes historical assumptions by demonstrating that Lequeu was not a practicing architect, but rather a low-level government bureaucrat who generated vast, unbuilt architectural fantasies, intricate geometric diagrams, and explicit anatomical sketches.

The text contextualizes Lequeu's work within Enlightenment and French Revolutionary architecture, while advancing a controversial scholarly hypothesis that 20th-century artist Marcel Duchamp may have manipulated or fabricated elements of the Lequeu archive to critique modernist architects like Le Corbusier. Featuring over 400 illustrations and expert commentary, this book functions as both a historical record of an eccentric draftsman and an investigation into the intersections of dadaism, surrealism, and classical architectural history.