Rotonde de la Villette
1926
Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg captured the grandeur of Paris's Rotonde de la Villette in this striking 1926 sketch, using bold, scratchy strokes to emphasize the massive circular structure and its classical columns. Known for his own monumental designs back home, Boberg added a splash of blue chalk to the sky, giving the otherwise earthy, tan-toned drawing a sudden burst of atmospheric life. This rotunda, originally an 18th-century toll gate designed by Ledoux, stands as a heavy, imposing relic of pre-revolutionary Paris, and Boberg's energetic lines perfectly convey its sheer scale.
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