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Against the wall: the birth of architectural criticism in early 19th Century ParisChristina ContandriopoulosDepartment of Art History, Université du Québec à MontréalThe barrieres of Paris built by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux between 1784 and 1789 triggered strong, immediate and unprecedented amounts of criticism. The 55 monumental tollgates and the enclosing wall that connected them and enclosed Paris were built rapidly during the final years of the Ancien régime and rallied unanimous outrage from journalists, politicians, citizens and architects. My paper will highlight how this unique project catalyzed the emergence of architectural criticism as a specific discourse.The reception of Ledoux’s infamous project in the press has already been studied (Peysson, 1980; Vidler, 1984) yet its specific contribution to the birth of architectural criticism has not yet been the focus of attention. My paper will include a broad survey of the press coverage surrounding Ledoux’s project highlighting the wide range of formats in which architectural criticism took shape from 1785 to 1835. These formats range from early anonymous pamphlets and Mémoires, to articles in the popular and specialized press, before culminating in more structured pieces by Jacques-Antoine Dulaure and Quatremère de Quincy. My comprehensive survey will describe both the structure and the evolution of different typologies of criticism that appeared during this period. I will also draw attention to the ways in which early forms of architectural criticism borrowed from other forms of writing, especially from popular theater with its use of catchy epigrams. Such was the case with Dulaure’s “Le mur murant Paris rend Paris murmurant” a memorable phrase that helped rally public opinion against Ledoux’s wall. Another significant goal of my paper will be to underline how this new critical discourse introduced different criteria for judging architecture such as public health, hygiene, economic factors as well as complex ideas on symbolic forms and monumentality.  This paper is part of a larger project on the emergence of architectural criticism in the popular press focusing on the role of Athanase Détournelle, Léon Dufourny and Jacques-Antoine Dulaure.&#160;Christina Contandriopoulos is Professor of Architectural History in the Department of Art History at the Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM). She received her post professional Masters and a Ph.D. from McGill University. Her research and publications focus on architectural publications in the early nineteenth century. She is co-editor of the book Companion to 19-Century Architecture (with Martin Bressani, Blackwell Publishing, 2017) and the anthology Architectural Theory 1871–2005 (with Harry Mallgrave, Blackwell-Wiley, 2008) and guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of Architectural Education on Utopia in contemporary architecture (Taylor and Francis, March 2013).