The Paris Opera House. Early Neoclassical Forms. Neoclassicism started in its early forms from 1640-1750. It existed alongside Baroque and reacted against Baroque flamboyance. Neoclassicism was the return of the Classical orders of Roman and Greek Antiquity. It was characterised by monumental structures, supported and decorated with pillars and topped with classical renaissance domes. It originated in Paris due to the French designers that were trained in the French Academy in Rome. The French Revolution in 1789 did not affect the architectural style of Paris, none of the architecture was discredited and classical architecture continued in Paris without interruption. Until 1815, the neo-classical trend predominated and after 1815, no single fashion had the upper hand. After the Revolution of 1848, a nephew of Napoleon, Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was elected as President of the Republic, and in 1852 he had himself declared Emperor Napoleon III of the Second Empire.
The building was built during the time of Napoleon III. He studied the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Garnier won the grand prix which enabled him to travel Rome and study classical architecture. He travelled to Athens and visited the Temple of Aphaia. He began to utilise new industrial materials and maintained a paramount level of style and décor. In others, they created something completely new like the Paris Opera House, which was commissioned in 1861 and finished by 1875. Due to the Haussmannisation political objectives made it necessary for most public buildings to be designed by an architectural style which showed continuity and associations with the past, notably those of Louis XIV and Napoleon I. They wanted it to adopt this architectural style so they could attract royalists and republic support. New Public buildings suggested that French modernisation was proceeding successfully. The Opera house sits alone in the middle of a diamond, isolating the building from the rest of society almost emphasizing its importance. It was very richly decorated compared to any other building built during this time period, it catered to the rich, it was a site of leisure and pleasure and emphasised by the design. A Luxury quarter to Paris began as shops, clubs and hotels began to develop around the Opera.
The transformation of Paris under the Second Empire is the biggest commonplace of urban history after the Great Fire of London. In the Second Empire the first of French industrialization started, it began in the 1840’s and lasted until the Franco Prussian War and the Siege of Paris (1871), and Great Depression of 1870’s. The main emphasis of Haussmannisation was on the streets, which were laid out in the periphery, or driven through the centre at the cost of thousands of demolitions. New streets and buildings began to affect the appearance of Paris. Napoleon wanted Haussmann to redesign Paris to make it an ‘imperial’ capital, to have clear streets and make better transportation systems. He wanted to make the city healthier with new sewerage and make an economic and social city as symbolised by the ‘Opera’. The government decided to complete previous achievements or create extensions of places such as the Louvre between 1837 and 1857.