Paris- 19th Century Architecture

     Paris was built from the vision of Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, they wanted to make the most modern city in the world. Napoleon III marked up plans and made instructions for Haussmann to execute through the city of Paris. The reconstruction of Paris started after the fire in London 1841, Napoleon wanted to recreate ideas from London, he instructed Haussman “Take every opportunity to organize the placement of the greatest possible number of squares in all Paris districts in order to offer generous places of recreation and leisure to all children here, rich and poor, just as they have in London.” Napoleon III drew up maps of Paris and reconstructed the streets to make travelling across the city more efficient. Some blocks had to be destroyed and cut through to make new roads, other buildings had to rebuild the front of the buildings in order to widen the roads. 

Due to the new road construction the geometry of the blocks were never regular, they were defined by the irregular streets. Although the shapes and streets were irregular, the exterior of the buildings were all similar. In October 1855, Haussmann passed clauses to make all building exteriors uniform. These clauses included: balconies that continue, the cornices and roofs are on the same level, no building exceeds six stories, and cream-colored stones are used for the exterior. 

The interior of the buildings all followed the same plan; the ground floor had high ceilings and thick walls to accommodate commercial use. The first floor, also known as the “mezzanine” had low ceilings and was often used has storage for the businesses on the ground floor. The second floor, or the “noble floor”, defined by the long balcony, it was the most luxurious of the floors and the most desirable. The third through fifth floors had smaller balconies and less elaborate windows, they were also just apartments. The top of the building is finished with a mansard roof, small attic rooms are found here and traditionally used as servants’ quarters. 


Comments

  1. Ms. DunleyMay 23, 2023 at 9:45 AM

    What role did the Seine have in the development and layout of Paris?

    ReplyDelete

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