BLOC, ANDRÉ

BLOC, ANDRÉ (1896–1966), French sculptor and engineer, who was concerned with the relationship of architecture to sculpture. He was the creator of "habitacles" (pieces of sculpture which could be entered) and "constructions," sculptural forms which lie on the borderline between the two arts. Born in Algiers, Bloc studied science in Paris. He then took a degree in engineering, which he practiced from 1930 onward. In 1941 he began to sculpt, and his first important work was executed in 1949. This was a 38-foot "signal" placed outside the Public Works Museum, Paris, on the occasion of the centenary of the invention of reinforced concrete. In 1951 he helped to found the "Espace" group. He was also associated with the foundation   of several architectural journals. Bloc died of a fall while visiting a temple in India. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Schaefer-Simmern, Sculpture in Europe Today (1955); Gisiger, in: Werk, 51 (1964), 271–2.