Edouard Utudjian

Edouard Utudjian studied at University of Paris and Beaux-Arts de Paris. Training under Emmanuel Pontremoli is recorded. The recorded working language is French. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Legion of Honour and Commander of the National Order of Merit.

• Name — Édouard Utudjian • Born — 5 November 1905 or 12 • Birthplace — Constantinople, Ottoman Empire • Died — 28 July 1975 • Place of death — Paris or Chartres, France

Utudjian received his secondary education at Robert College and Saint-Grégoire College in Istanbul, where he became a French-speaking baccalaureate graduate. He immigrated to France in December 1925 and enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in June 1926. He advanced to first class in 1929 and completed his architectural studies in March 1931. He obtained his diploma in February 1941 from the Pontremoli and Leconte studio for his project on the Development of Saint-Lazare Island in Venice, home to an Armenian Catholic congregation. During this period, he also pursued additional training at a School of Advanced Commercial and Financial Studies and a School of Civil Engineering in Paris. Parallel to his architectural education, Utudjian enrolled at the Institut d'Urbanisme de l'Université de Paris (IUUP) in 1933, successfully completing two years of study by 1935. However, he did not defend his thesis until 1951, when he presented "Urbanisme souterrain" (Underground Urbanism) under the supervision of Pierre Lavedan, the historian of urbanism and then-director of the IUUP.

Utudjian's most significant contribution was the conceptualization and development of underground urbanism as a distinct field. In 1933, he founded the Groupe d'Études et de Coordination de l'Urbanisme Souterrain (GECUS - Study and Coordination Group for Underground Urbanism), which he led until his death. His work was motivated by what he described as the ills and chaos afflicting large cities, which he believed necessitated the rational use of underground space. He published extensively on the subject, including influential works such as L'urbanisme souterrain (1952) and L'architecture et l'urbanisme souterrain (1966) and created and edited the journal Le Monde souterrain (The Underground World), which was compiled into a ten-volume encyclopedia. Utudjian believed that underground urbanism must not lead to the construction of "real cavern cities" intended for permanent habitation. He argued that underground habitat must be temporary and very limited because "human nature is made for a given atmospheric environment and science does not currently allow for the integral reconstitution of this environment underground". Utudjian served as secretary general of the Comité Permanent International des Techniques et de l'Urbanisme Souterrain (CPITUS - International Standing Committee for Underground Techniques and Urbanism). Through GECUS, he contributed to major underground infrastructure projects including the Channel Tunnel, the Paris Réseau Express Régional regional rail network, Les Halles, and metro systems in Iran and Spain. Utudjian taught at several insitutions, including École spéciale d'architecture (1950 to at least 1967), École nationale et spéciale des Beaux-Arts (1952 through at least 1967), École spéciale de mécanique et d'électricité, and Conservatoire national des Arts et Métiers.

Edouard Utudjian is recorded as having received Knight of the Legion of Honour and Commander of the National Order of Merit. Recorded at birth as Yervant Utudjian.