Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The iconic apartment buildings that line the boulevards of central Paris, with their cream-
coloured stone and curvy wrought-iron balconies, are the work of Baron Haussmann
(1809-91), prefect of the Seine départementbetween 1853 and 1870.
Art Nouveau
Art nouveau, which emerged in Europe and the USA in the second half of the 19th century
under various names (Jugendstil, Sezessionstil, Stile Liberty), caught on quickly in Paris,
and its influence lasted until about 1910. It was characterised by sinuous curves and flow-
ing, asymmetrical forms reminiscent of creeping vines, water lilies, the patterns on insect
wings and the flowering boughs of trees. Influenced by the arrival of exotic
objets d'art
from Japan, art nouveau's French name came from a Paris gallery that featured works in the
'new art' style.
A lush and photogenic architectural style, art nouveau is expressed to perfection in Paris
by Hector Guimard's graceful metro entrances and Le Marais synagogue, parts of the interi-
ors in the Musée d'Orsay and the city's main department stores, Le Bon Marché and Galer-
ies Lafayette.
A zany structure if ever there was one is auction house Hôtel Drouat. After a late-1970s
surrealist facelift by architects Jean-Jacques Fernier and André Biro, the 19th-century
Haussmann building was instantly hailed as a modern architectural gem.
Modern
France's best-known 20th-century architect, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (aka Le Corbusier)
was born in Switzerland but settled in Paris in 1917 at the age of 30. A radical modernist, he
tried to adapt buildings to their functions in industrialised society without ignoring the hu-
man element. Most of Le Corbusier's work was done outside Paris, though he did design
several private residences and the Pavillon Suisse, a dormitory for Swiss students at the Cité
Internationale Universitaire in the 14e.
But until 1968, French architects were still being trained almost exclusively at the con-
formist École de Beaux-Arts, reflected in most of the early impersonal and forgettable 'lip-
stick tubes' and 'upended shoebox' structures erected in the skyscraper district of La
Défense, the Unesco building (1958) in the 7e, and the 210m-tall Tour Montparnasse
(1973).
