The oblique structure’s father died on 27 February 2016, the day after his 93rd birthday.

Born in 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Claude Parent’s work and vision will remain a reference for contemporary architects.

His drawings and projects were recently shown in Paris, at Azzedine Alaïa’s art gallery, as part of the « Musées à venir » (Upcoming museums) exhibition which showcased 8 uncompleted museums projects, 4 of them designed by Claude Parent, 4 others by Jean Nouvel.

If the friendship between the Philharmonie de Paris designer and the architecture free spirit was well known, Claude Parent was also a reference for many other renowned architects, such as Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid or Frank Gehry. They were all inspired by Parent’s oblique structure, theorised with Paul Virilio in 1964.

Claude Parent was an active member of L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui’s editorial board for more than 30 years. Recently, he contributed to AA’s 400th issue, questioning the role of an architecture magazine in the 21st century with a « letter from the future » (see below).

Claude Parent embodied free-thinking and avant-garde. His passing leaves French architecture an orphan of one of its visionaries.

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