Boulevard Haussman's Department Store and Boulevard Des Capucines's Opera House - Essay Example

Boulevard Haussman’s Department Stores and Boulevard des Capucine’s Opera’s House as Two Key Elements in The Haussmanization of Parisian Architecture. (Insert name) (Course name) (Course instructor) (Date of Submission) Boulevard Haussmann’s Department Store The Boulevard Haussmann is located in Paris’ France and is home to two of the world’s most famous departmental stores. The Boulevard Haussmann was opened in 1864 and up to date, the buildings found in the boulevard have still maintained their aesthetic value through their architectural appearance . Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann was the orchestrator of the planning project of the boulevard under the commissioning of Napoléon III. The boulevard is between Boulevard des Italiens and the Avenue de Friedland and runs a length of 2.5km. The two famous department stores found in The Boulevard Haussmann are the Galeries Lafayette Department store and the Printemps Department store. The two stores are a depiction of state of the art architectural articulation despite the fact that they were built in the late 1800’s1. The Printemps Department Store The Printemps department store will be the main building in focus on the Boulevard Haussmann. The store is an architectural center piece located at the corner of Le Havre and Boulevard Haussmann. The building was officially opened on 3rd November 1865 in its original form. The architects who were responsible for the building of the Printemps departmental store were Jules Jaluzot and Jean-AlfredDuclo. Before joining the Printemps project, Jules Jaluzot was a supervisor at the Le Bon Marche department store. The first store building was small and in 1874, the building was renovated. The main agenda of the renovation was to expand the building. The most notable installation that occurred during the expansion process was the installation of elevators. This was a major architectural innovation and installation since elevators were unveiled during the 1867 universal exposition2. In 1881, the Printempsstore, despite all the renovations and innovative installations, burnt down. The building was left desolate for a couple of years until the reconstruction process began and was completed in 1889. The newly reconstructed Au Printemps covered an area of over 3000 square meters and stretched from the Rue Caumartin and Rue de Provence. The reconstruction of the building also made history. This is because the Au Printemps used electric lighting. This was in the year 1888 and was the first building in Paris to use electric lighting. The store was farther enlarged in 1907 and a new shop was built increasing the area of coverage of the Au Printemps to 5000 square meters. This new shop covered the space that was between the Boulevard Haussmann, the Rue de Charras, Rue de Provence and Rue Caumartin3. The architectural plan of the store and the Boulevard Haussmann was monumental in that it helped the department store get direct access to the subway after the metro was connected around the year 1904. In 1921, the Au Printemps suffered a major set-back; it experienced another fire and burnt down. Reconstruction began immediately and by the year 1924, the reconstruction of the building was complete. This reconstruction process invoked architectural tactics from ancient Rome and saw the incorporation of a cupola above the main restaurant; this cupola was both historical and architectural monument. In the late 1930’s the world war II posed threats because of the bombings and for this reason the cupola was dismantled and stored at Clichy for fear of destruction. The designer of the cupola had archived plans for installing the cupola since it was a family business and it was re-installed in 1973 by his grandson4. Boulevard des Capucines’ Opera’s House Among the four Grands Boulevards in Paris is the Boulevard des Capucines. Before the French revolution, a convent of Capuchine nuns had a garden in the south side of the boulevard. The boulevard was named in relation to the capucine nuns. Palais Garnier Opera House Boulevard des Capucines is home to the Palais Garnier. This is an opera house which was built, on the decree of Emperor Napoleon III, by Charles Garnier as the main center for Paris opera. The Palais Granier was built from 1861 and the construction process came to completion in 1875. The Palais Granier was initially called the Salle des Capucines primarily because of its location. The name was changed in honor of the architect who built it. The Palais Granier was such an important project to the emperor that he ordered to a model of the building be shown to him. This was one of the most challenging architectural projects that was undertaken in Paris. This is because the water level at the building site was extremely high. This made it difficult for the architects to construct the basement of the building which needed to be deeper than other buildings. Furthermore, if they succeeded in constructing the basement, the external ground water would have applied pressure on the walls of the basement5. Granier came up with a solution for the problem. The solution was to build a double foundation. This kind of foundation doubled up as a reservoir and at the same time it relived the pressure which the external ground water was applying on the foundation walls. The Architecture of the Printemps The Printemps Depatment store has undergone renovations and expansions over the years. It currently occupies an area of 46,500 square meters and stretches along the Boulevard Haussmann, the Rue de Charras, Rue de Provence and Rue Caumartin. The wide area of coverage of the building has made it possible for the building to be segmented in to 3 major sections. The three sections include the Printemps de la Mode; Spring Beauty and the House; and Printemps de l’Homme6. The three sections cover a total of 27 floors altogether. The Printemps de la Mode has 9 floors; the Spring Beauty and the House has 11 floors; and the Printemps de l’Homme has 7 floors. The Printemps is a French word which means “in the spring time”. For this reason, the building has been structured and architecture in a manner that favors the spring season. The large windows have been essentially put in place to allow the flow of natural light in large quantities in to the building. The large hall ways facilitate the free flow of natural air. The segmentation shows the diversity of the architectural composition of the building. The octagonal hall which was among the very first innovations, stunned in its architecture. The hall was built and reinforced with iron. The architectures used the iron to shape out the balconies in the octagonal hall to a definite shape. Furthermore, the balconies were also railed with iron and the shaping of the iron railings is a showcase of how architecture and art combine. The cast-iron and glass style of architecture was introduced by Victor Baltard in 1847 when the Haussmannization of Paris begun. This style was used extensively in the rebuilding of Paris even in building of utilitarian buildings such as railway stations7. The most intriguing architectural piece of the Printemps department store is the cupola which was first installed in 1923. The cupola was originally an architectural signature of the Romans and was initially constructed using concrete. The cupola in the Printemps store was made of tainted glass together with iron. The tainted glass cupola was in theme with the spring season because it lets in light which illuminates the area under it and also allows for a view of the night sky. It also allows the free flow of air in the area because of the vast number of visitors who come in daily. The cupola was re-installed in 1973 by the grandson of Brier after it was brought down in 1939. The new installation still used the Brier’s design and still maintained its architectural authenticity. The cupola is above the restaurant area in the store. The Printemps department store made architectural history in France by being the first to use electric lighting. This was a major milestone because the architectures had to find a way to wire the already constructed building whose original plan did not consider electric wiring. The Printemps also used elevators and with time incorporated the use of escalators. The store’s façade was declared a historical monument together with the cupola in 1975 because of how the two structures were architecturally provocative. The Architecture of the Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier is also a display of the architectural prowess of the French. It shows the genius articulation that Garnier provoked while building it. The original plan of the Palais Garnier used axial symmetry which was used to construct the auditorium of the opera house8. The opera house was constructed using the cast iron style of architecture. Photographers Hyacinthe-César Delmaet and Louis-Emile Durandelle documented on film the major phases of the construction process of the Palais Garnier. The iron that was used to reinforce the building was well over 50 tones. As mentioned earlier, the building of the Palais Garnier was delayed by the presence of high water levels at the building site. The water was pumped out for a period of about 8 months. Charles Garnier then came up with a solution to counter the pressure that the water was applying to the basement wall9. He built a double basement which acted as a reservoir and at the same time relieved the pressure that the water was applying on the walls of the basement. This was the most crucial architectural achievement in the building of the opera house since it required a deeper basement .The basement of the building ran five floors down. Foot bridges and platforms were installed in the basements to assist the machine operators to man the and operate the stage decors during a play. The auditorium of the opera house was constructed in a circular shape. The auditorium has five floors. These floors are divided in to balconies which are railed using iron, a style similar to that present in the Printemps building. The sitting capacity of the Palais Garnier is 2,200. This is one of the reasons why the building was re-enforced with so much iron. The stage of the opera is 26m wide, 52m deep, and 60m high. The stage was built in using such dimensions so that it could accommodate as many performers as possible in one performance. As it can hold up to 450 performers in one sitting. The building was constructed using architectural techniques that incorporated style through ornamentation. The building was decorated using multicolored marble friezes. This gives the building the lavish appearance that was planned for. Furthermore, the interior of the building was built spaciously. The monumental stair case which has a length of 10m is made of the purest Carrara marble and the underlying area is extremely spacious. The interweaving corridors ad alcoves are also spacious to allow movements of large numbers of people. Another reason for this was to accommodate the social purpose that the Palais Garnier was intended for during shows. The five floors of the building were decorated with red velvet and gilt which made the building attain a lavish and stylish appearance. The center piece of the Palais Garnier is the chandelier which weighs more than 6 tones. The audience in the auditorium sit under this center piece and this gives the auditorium the intended opulence10 . The Grand Foyer is an interior corridor in the building that has been decorated with chandeliers and the entire extension of the corridor has bronze painted pillars which give a perfect illumination from the natural light made present by the windows. The Palais Garnier has a feature similar to the Printemps store; it has a dome. The dome is in the auditorium and it is from this dome that the 6 tone chandelier hangs from. The difference between the two domes is the fact that that the one at the Printemps store is made of tainted glass while the one at the Palais Garnier is made of marble stone. These two buildings are key elements in the Haussmannization of Parisian architecture because they were among the major projects that Emperor Napoleon III delegated to Haussmann. The Printemps store was built along the Boulevard Haussmann while the Palais Garnier was built after Haussmann cleared a 12,00 square meters piece of land in Paris. They were among the first buildings to be constructed during the remodeling of Paris. Bibliography Mead, Christopher Curtis. 1991. Charles Garniers Paris opéra: architectural empathy and the renaissance of French classicism. New York: Architectural History Foundation. Watkin, David. 2005. A history of western architecture. London: Laurence King. Read More