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.
The perspective of the Opera house was calculated so that the stage house and auditorium would disappear once you arrive in Place de l’Opera.
The façade divided into two levels.
The second level is faced with Corinthain paired columns. It is decorated with carved sculptures and coloured tiles showing off the gold statuary on the roofline. The style of this is neo-baroque/beaux arts. The second level is an extension of Renaissance architecture, using the same basics such as domes, columns and entablatures. However, the baroque shows the greater freedom and an integration of all arts.
Two smaller domes flank the wings of the building, adding to the rich detail of the building. Each internal part is clearly expressed on the exterior, showing the distinctive shape of the roof.
The Emperors wife asked Garnier as to whether or not the building would be built in Greek or Roman style in which he replied “It is in the Napoleon III style Madame!”
The lower entrance level has an arcade of arches adorned with sculpture.
Beaux-Arts Architecture.
The Opera house was situated with thought, the town planning also owes something to Baroque precedent such as Bernini’s design for St Peters Square, 1656-67.
The academic neoclassical architectural style was taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. This style began by two and a half centuries of instruction under authority. First was the Academie royal d’architecture, then, following the Revolution, of the Architecture section of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. A competition for the Grand Prix de Rome in architecture began, which was offering a chance to study in Rome. Various historical styles are combined to create a new style.
Thomas Couture: ‘Romans of the Decadence’, 1847. The Romans of the Decendance is closely related to the eclecticism seen in the work of artists trained in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, various historical styles are combined within this painting to create something completely new and not seen before. The Grand Foyer stretches across the whole front of the Opera. It is a reminiscent of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles which was built for Louis 14th, 1678.
“Today, luxury is spreading, comfort is demanded everywhere” Garnier. This suggests that all people are kings in the Second Empire, that is, if they can afford it.
Underneath the masonry in the interior, in the auditorium, an iron structural frame supports the dome and the balconies. The hidden iron structure allows Garnier to use fewer and thinner supports for better sights for the audience. In total there are 12 x cast iron columns which are all fireproofed and covered to look like masonry. Garnier believed that ‘iron should allow free reign to the artists imagination; architecture is a vehicle of societies dreams and fantasies’ the iron skeleton, however, was covered with grander materials in the public area. The auditorium seems to have been made specifically for the staircase, rather than the staircase built for the auditorium. Everything is a spectacle of architecture and society. Architects were accustomed to thinking of certain ways of creating structure, the first uses of structural iron by architects were made by using old ideas. At first, structural uses of iron were for factories and ridges e.g. utilitarian, not traditional architecture. Below is the World’s first cast-iron bridge by Abraham Darby: Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale, 1779.
Prior to the introduction of bulk iron, architecture relied on compressive strength to hold buildings up. Great structures were essentially orderly and decorated piles of stone.
By researching in to the Opera house I was very inspired by the architecture and the extravagant art inside and on the ceilings. It inspired me to begin to create patterns using photographs of inside the Paris Opera House. I used Photoshop to create these two designs, and finalised it by On my visit to Paris, I spent one of the evenings on a guided tour round the Paris Opera House and it was absolutely stunning. There are creating the pattern in to a dress. a variety of architecture elegantly placed all over the opera house, the To the left is the Opera takes place, and what a decoration of the ceilings and the walls were phenomenal. It was a room it is. Instantly, I was drawn to the ceiling. breath-taking experience and an overall excellent tour as I got to truly The ceiling in this where room is very different to understand what each of the design elements represented, which I the ceilings in the rest of the Opera house, which have previously discussed. made me love it even more! The chandelier in this
In the Summer I took an amazing trip around Europe and its famous capitals, one of them being Paris. Whilst in Paris I stopped off at the beautiful Opera House and was mesmerized by its beauty.
Here are some of the photographs I have taken of the inside architecture, which is just absolutely mesmerising. The main thing that I was attracted to was the painted ceilings with the gigantic chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I was also very captured by the huge staircase, which was definitely the focal point of the room.
room is even more extravagant to the rest, it is absolutely stunning to look at!
My Designs. I decided to take the first design that I created on Photoshop through and create the digital dress to give me an idea with what I am working with. I really love the shapes within the pattern I have created, especially the curves and how I have used them to create the shape of the dress. I will most definitely take this in to consideration to create a final garment which portrays the sheer beauty of the opera house.
Design 1.
Design 2.