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"Well Bow Me Down"
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Paris is known for its uniform architecture, much of it coming from the Baron Haussmann period. Napoleon III's 'bulldog' smashed huge monumental avenues through previously crowded districts of As narrow streets often constructed pellmell and any which way, creating the typical and unmistakable French capital style we know today.
Some areas survived, now looked upon fondly as quaint reminders of a Paris long gone by, such as parts of the Latin Quarter and the Marais.
Other parts we able to create a new identity, either because they hadn't been built up yet, such as parts of the 16th, or because later architects were given the freedom to try a few things just a little different.Rue Réamur is a case in point. Whilst it's true that it bears the hallmarks of the Haussmann era, with uniformly heighted stocky, cream-coloured buildings with the classic little black balconies up around the fifth floor, the grey slated roofs, etc. there are five or six buildings in that area which are decidedly different.
Rue Réamur was created as we know it today in the last years of the 19th century, carrying on the legacy of the Haussmann influence from the Second Empire days which lasted until 1870."Parisian Art Nouveau meets the industrial revolution" |
The area was heavily 'textilised' (not to mention the printing influence), as it remains today, and some of the richest cloth merchants were building, or commissioning, at least, impressive offices and prestigious HQs for their operations.
A strong metal skeleton structure was often used, allowing features such as huge windows to let in plenty of light for the manufacturing activities taking place within.
At was around this time (1897) that an architectural competition was launched, and some of the buildings in this street were among the early prize-winners.
Anyway, let's focus on a particularly remarkable example of this new era of freedom and innovation in Parisian architectural design, closely linked to developments in building materials and advances in thinking about how to create stronger structures.
Erected in 1905, by a certain Georges Chedanne, does anything here remind you of a certain Parisian tower, built about 15 years previously?Having said that, with the studded iron or steel girders proudly on display, we're right in the middle of the Parisian Art Nouveau explosion, and believe it or not, this exposed metal facade, with its audacious afrontery fits right in with the rest of the curiously curvy new buildings sprouting up all over the place.
I'll mention some of the other examples later on, either in this series or elsewhere, but for now take a trip down Rue Réamur in the 2nd and see for yourself. And don't forget your camera!
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