Architecture

In 1559, skillfully combining the arithmetical and geometrical proportions with the architectural principles of the Golden Mean, the famous architect Philibert de L'Orme and his master mason Olivier Imbert privileged the beauty and the delicacy of form over monumental pretension. And if the castle windows seem enormous for the period, it was to provide the best view possible of the peaceable perspectives of the gardens meeting with the horizons. Here all is beauty and harmony. At Thoiry, mathematical science serving reality, nourished Raoul Moreau's esoteric inspiration, because, the calculation of the perfect proportions of architectural forms to capture celestial energy created the ideal climate for the alchemist's research and meditation. Interaction of water mirrors, of light and shadow, the castle was conceived to integrate and to fusion with the universe. The Sun appears to rise in the central arch of the house, enflaming the windows of the ground floor and marking the parterre with the fiery fingers of its rays. The Sun's presence, Apollo captured in his course across the heavens, links the castle to the rhythm of Time and the solar cycles of the seasons. In his desire to create harmony between the Château and its positon in the given space, Philibert de L'Orme did not neglect the essential, either: the spirituel and relationel well-being of the inhabitants were important considerations. This balance of Architecture and Beauty must be at the service of everyday life to create general well-being. In their quest for knowledge, and the wisdom it brings, the initiated architect and the inspired alchemist inscribed in Thoiry's forms a symphony to the bliss of an "art de vivre", an invitation to travel in Time to a world of calm, luxury, and voluptuousness.