Emily Leibow    03/13/00

ARCHITECTURE OF PARIS

The architecture of Paris from the Renaissance to the Bourbon Dynasty was

dictated primarily by the nobility.  They commissioned the architects, craved

displays of authority and power, and were responsible for development of

structure and city planning, and the expansion of Paris.  The monarchs who

contributed the most to the city shared a common desire: they wanted Paris to

be the most beautiful city in world.  Most would say that they succeeded.

The Renaissance style of architecture was advanced primarily by the patronage

of François Ier (1515-1547).  He commissioned Italian architects to aid in

the revival of Paris.  The most important architect he hired was Sebastiano

Serlio (1475-1554), who designed the Grand Ferrare at Fontainbleau from

1544-1546.  The two most important aspects of Serlio’s buildings were

symmetry and proportion.

Henri IV (1589-1610) was also an influential figure in Renaissance

architecture.  Under his command, three piazzi were built: the Place

Dauphine, the Place Royale and the Place de France.  The architecture of the

three piazzi were of typical Renaissance style.  Their façades were made of

brick and stone, they had large windows that were perfectly symmetrical, each

floor had high ceilings that got progressively lower, and their roofs were

decorated by dormers.  Although influenced by Serlio, the three piazzi, which

were meant to embody modernity and France, were novel and distinctively

Parisian.  They "transformed the city and gave Paris the pattern for three

centuries of urban design."   Some might call Henri IV the most important

figure in French architecture.  He really moved Paris away from Medieval

architecture towards that of the Renaissance.  He started the idea of city

planning with his three piazzi and the other projects he commissioned.  He

paved the way for French classicism and, "had he lived, Henri IV would be

known today as the greatest early town planner.  As it was, Henri gave Paris

the pattern for three centuries of urban design."

Parisian architecture began to evolve its own style during the 1600s, called

French classicism.  It added uniqueness and grace to the regularity and

proportion of the Ancient and Renaissance styles of architecture.  French

classicism was a balance between tradition and novelty.  The Crown,

especially Louis XIV (1643-1715), was enthusiastic about the architectural

innovations that were taking place in Paris and used its patronage to

encourage classicism.  Classical buildings were made with top quality

materials, were symmetrical and proportional, and had many of the same regal

and imposing qualities as Roman and Renaissance buildings.

The classical architecture of Paris maintained a balance between continuity

and variety.  Variety was provided by the unique visions of architects and

their patrons.  Continuity was achieved through adherence to prescribed

theories and concepts taught at the Académie Royale d’Architecture.

The Académie Royale d’Architecture was founded in 1671 by Colbert, Louis’

minister.  It helped with the continuing expansion of the architectural

profession by providing classes for students interested in the field.  As a

result of the success of the Académie, all the major buildings in Paris were

now completely designed by architects.  Blondel, a renowned lecturer and

writer about architecture at the Académie, stated that, "Louis XIV had at

long last given architects the chance to build monuments which could rise

above those of Ancient times."

Louis XIV was also responsible for the creation of the boulevards and avenues

that were laid out in Paris in the seventeenth century.  Both originated on

the outskirts of Paris and eventually impacted the city itself.  In 1670,

Louis demolished the fortifications around Paris.  The result was a large

open space that was made into the first grand boulevard.  The aristocracy

lined the new grands boulevards with mansions they built for themselves, and

the boulevards became a center of fashion and excitement.  The avenues were

originally roads connecting the country to Paris.  The avenues, lined with

trees on either side, eventually became part of the city as the aristocracy

began building homes on them also.  The most famous avenue was the

Champs-Elysées.  It was developed in 1667 by Lenôtre, a landscape architect,

as an extension to the Tuilleries palace.  Both the grands boulevards and the

avenues embodied the ideas of open space, a new and important concept in

Parisian architecture.

In 1748, the idea for a statue and piazza to celebrate Louis XV was proposed

by civic leaders.  Jacques-Ange Gabriel was the architect who designed the

statue and the piazza that would surround it.  It was situated a little to

the left of the end of the Champs-Elysées.  It was named the Place Louis XV,

and had many effects on the city.  The Place Louis XV gave a basic plan to

the Right Bank, by giving it a focus and structure, and began the

urbanization of the Champs-Elysées by linking it to other developing

districts.  The most important effect that the Place Louis XV had was the

further expansion of the classical style of architecture throughout Paris.

French classicism continued to flourish under the reign of Napoleon

Bonaparte.  One of Napoleon’s major architectural projects was the

construction of the Church of the Madeleine in 1807.  The church was a

"rectangular, Graeco-Roman temple with a peristyle* of Corinthian columns."

In 1808, Napoleon commissioned a square to surround the church, named the

Place de la Madeleine.  Napoleon was also responsible for building the

largest triumphal arch in history, the Arc de Triumph.  The Arc de Triumph

was designed by J.A. Raymond and J.F.T. Chalgrin and was constructed between

1806 and 1836 at the southern tip of the Champs-Elysées.  Napoleon’s third

significant contribution to the architecture of Paris was the Rue de Rivoli.

Erected in 1802, the Rue de Rivoli served as a connection between all the new

monuments arising in Paris.  The two main foci of the Rue de Rivoli were

street width and the façades of the buildings that lined it.  The façades

were perfectly symmetrical and proportional, epitomizing the French classical

design.  They were made of stone, had tall arches on the ground floor, tall,

thin windows with shudders, balconies protruding slightly from the second and

fourth floors, and dormers on the roof.  The Rue de Rivoli was the largest

architectural accomplishment in Paris since the Place Dauphine, constructed

in the early 1600s by Louis IV, and it was a perfect display of French

classicism.

The architecture of Paris, considered to be one of the world’s best, was due

largely to the patronage of its nobility.  The only period that did not

experience architectural advancement was the French Revolution.  It was a

period of little building and of no architectural achievement.  It was also

the only period without a monarch.  As seen in Paris between the Middle Ages

and 1848, the monarchy, though repressive and undemocratic, did have one

benefit: impressive and enduring architectural expansion.