François Mansart

François Mansart
François Mansart, detail of a double portrait of Mansart and Claude Perrault, by Philippe de Champaigne
Born(1598-01-23)23 January 1598
Died23 September 1666(1666-09-23) (aged 68)
Paris
NationalityFrench
Alma materstudio of Salomon de Brosse
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsChâteau de Balleroy, Temple du Marais, Château de Maisons, Church of the Val-de-Grâce
ProjectsChâteau de Blois
Designplans to redesign the Louvre and the royal necropolis at Saint-Denis

François Mansart (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa mɑ̃saʁ]; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into the Baroque architecture of France. The Encyclopædia Britannica identifies him as the most accomplished of 17th-century French architects whose works "are renowned for their high degree of refinement, subtlety, and elegance".

Mansart, as he is generally known, popularized the mansard roof, a four-sided, double slope gambrel roof punctuated with windows on the steeper lower slope, which created additional habitable space in the garrets.