Patrick Geddes: portrait of a travelling spirit through his library

Exhibition organized by the Richter University Library

Date:September 14 to October 5, 2012
Opening hours:8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Location:Richter University Library

Catalog

Patrick Geddes(Ballater, Scotland, 1854-Montpellier, 1932) is a figure of unsuspected wealth. A biologist who pioneered the theory of symbiosis to the point of being hailed as "Scotland's Darwin", a theorist of active education, environmental concepts in town planning and urban planning before construction, he left concrete traces in all the fields in which he exercised his keen intelligence. He was the designer of the Tel Aviv plan in 1925-1926, the founder of a highly influential school of urban planning thought, of which theEcole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Montpellier(ENSAM) is one of the many heirs, and the creator of major historical exhibitions and shows.

But the man himself is also fascinating: a proponent of the most progressive social theories of his time, heir to an Anglican upbringing evolving into a theosophy that today would be labeled "new age", and a fertile mind for grandiose projects.

His link with Montpellier is strong and not due to chance: claiming to be a follower of Montpellier science(Augustin Pyrame de Candolle,Jules-Émile Planchon,Auguste Comte), and a great friend ofCharlesFlahault, he created his Collège à Montpellier in 1924 with full knowledge of the facts. The active intellectual life he fostered around it until his death in 1932 and his teaching activities at the Collègedes Écossais andthe Châteaud'Assasgivehima special place in the region's heritage.

In collaboration with ENSAM, the BU Richter, heir to the Geddes library, has chosen this exhibition to evoke the man and his unique intellectual construction.