About: André Vera

André Vera (1881–1971) was a French garden designer, town planner and pioneer of the Art Deco style. He is known for his collaboration with his brother, the painter and decorator Paul Vera. He wanted to renew French design, which he felt had been in decline since the 1840s, and to introduce a modern French style that maintained continuity with earlier French tradition. He was an advocate of the formal French garden, with strictly geometrical designs based on lines and squares in place of the curvilinear forms of Art Nouveau. In urban design he stressed the importance of including trees as architectural elements, which he thought would enhance the mental and physical health of the residents.