NÔTRE DAME, STE. CHAPPELLE and ÎLE DE LA CITÉ

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1 NÔTRE DAME, STE. CHAPPELLE and ÎLE DE LA CITÉ The cathedral is an early example of French Gothic. While it is stubby compared to later buildings, it is fully developed. To truly understand the Gothic sense of space, consider that in medieval times the narrow streets and tiny buildings came right up to the steps of the church. The interior of the cathedral was the largest space in town. From the hot, dank, smelly streets the peasants would enter the cool, soaring interior, bathed in an other-worldly light. Note the icon at the center of the door - it is symbolic of the dominance of the community over the individual. Medieval society was socialistic. In Renaissance times, such icons disappeared and the individual was able to enter on axis; the individual was then seen as the center. Right across the street from Nôtre Dame in a courtyard of the Justice Building is Ste. Chappelle. Perhaps the most unusual Gothic building in France, it is a multi-level royal chapel. The upper chapel is High Gothic and shows how the French really pushed stone technology to its limit. Notice the lack of flying buttresses that would normally counteract the thrust of the stone vaults. There has been a lot of discussion concerning why this building remains standing. Both of these building are built on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine. It was the home of the kings of France until they moved across the river to the Louvre. The monarchs wanted to get out of the old city, buy some land, and build a nice place in the country. Ste. Chappelle on the Île de la Cité

2 THE LOUVRE This continuous collection of buildings is a record of the growth of Paris and the French monarchy. Access the complex through I.M. Pei s uninspired pyramid (take the elevator down - it s a gas). Just to the east (I think) is an exhibit on the growth of Paris and the Louvre with great models. As the monarchy grew in power, the Louvre developed an axis extending to the west that became the visual expression of the infinite power of the French king. Never before (even in Rome) had a public space been conceived on this scale. Once the king had jumped across the river, everyone else did as well. RENAISSANCE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT The French developed quite a tradition of fast and sometimes loose speculative development. Probably the earliest example of this is the Île St. Louis, just to the east of Île de la Cité. You ll notice the streets are laid out on a grid like an American city. This island was planned by a medieval developer and sold to those who couldn t afford to be on the King s island. Beyond this minor example, the character of Renaissance Paris is best experienced by visiting the plush housing courts. The oldest is Place des Vosges (1612). When you visit, remember this building was built as the city was emerging from the medieval era. It was built as a single concept, differing from the scattered and unplanned growth of medieval times. This was about the time that Bernini (refer to the Rome guide) visited Paris, transplanting many Italian notions about design - particularly the Italian concept of public space. If you can time it right, there are a couple of cafés on the plaza for lunch. The next place to stop is the Palais Royal (1642). Here the notion of the Renaissance square has been expanded, becoming a space of imperial proportions. Where Vosges was human-scaled, here the human is diminished by the length of space. Both Vosges and Royal were highly successful as real estate ventures. It isn t surprising that greed generated more and more of such developments. One of the most interesting is Place Vendôme (1685) developed by Louis XIV. In this case, Louis only built the façades that face his own statue. Then he sold the lots behind the walls to individual investors who built whatever they wanted. The Hotel Ritz is located on west side of Place Vendôme. The Place des Vosges. The Palais Royal.

3 EX-URBAN PALACES Versailles LE NÔTRE With the increasing wealth and power of both the French King and the aristocracy, the most impressive constructions couldn t express their inflated view of themselves within the cramped confines of the city. The Italians were satisfied with their urban palaces and their suburban villas, but the French had to move to the country to express themselves. Louis needed a way to control the unruly French aristocracy. His solution was to invent a social institution - the French court. He created a social need for the gentlemen of France to participate in court. To participate, they came to Paris and, if lucky, were invited to stay at Versailles. Distracted, indulged, and entertained, the unruly became truly docile. In the Vaux-le-Vicomte (1661) LE VAU and LE NÔTRE end, it all gets boring, except for the grounds. Here, Le Nôtre developed a a plan that would influence L Enfant (the son of a gardener at Versailles) Nicholas Fouquet was way ahead of his time. He hired Le Vau, a young architect, and Le Nôtre, a young landscape architect, to deisgn a new type of villa. Somehow the three of them came up with a composition of many earlier concepts that represented a new experience. The Palace in his design of Washington, DC. In L Enfant s plan, the capital takes the place of the palace, and the White House replaces the home of the King s mistress, the Trianon. Interestingly, construction in the 17th and 18th Centuries was dominated by private houses, palaces, and country villas. is the centerpiece of a composition of gardens that appears infinite in size. Fouquet is symbolically at the center of the natural world, bent to conform to his desires. Unlike Italian gardens sized for the pedestrian, the scale of these gardens is meant to be seen on horseback. At the opening reception the King and the court were invited to consider the final composition. Unfortunately, Louis XIV felt the concept was fit for a king, and not Fouquet. On the night of the party Fouquet was imprisoned for the rest of his life. Louis hired Le Nôtre and Le Vau, and proceeded to convert his hunting lodge into Versailles. In my own view, Vaux-le-Vicomte is better than Versailles. It is huge, but small enough to imagine living there. It is truly a house, whereas Versailles is an instrument of state. Le Nôtre s gardens at Versailles (above), and those at Vaux-le-Vicomte, surrounding Fouquet s palace complex (left).

4 REVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE For some reason, a few architects were able to obtain commissions to complete remarkably radical work. The best known of these is LeDoux. He built forty-four toll gates for the King (you once paid to get into Paris), an experimental worker s village near Laon, and other buildings. Unfortunately, 19th Century revolutionaries demolished most of the gates as symbols of the king, though there are a few that remain today. There is one near Parc de la Villette at Place Stalingrad, just across from the metro station, and another at Place de la Nation. If you pass by one, take a look. They were all built during a period of excess and opulence just prior to the Revolution. In contrast to their smooth walls, the limited decoration is extremely bold and powerful, and the overall composition usually involved the super-imposition of simple geometric solids. LeDoux had a Gates at the Place de la Nation. significant impact on American architects. Jefferson modeled one of the pavilions at the University of Virginia on one of the gates. Close views of two Le Doux toll gates, and a wider view at right.

5 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BEAUX-ARTS Paris was a medieval city until the mid-1800 s when Baron Haussman, working for Napoleon III, developed a maze of axial streets. Prior to this time, only the Champs Elysées fulfilled our notion of the Parisian boulevard. As part of Haussman s plan, a site was developed for a new building for the Opera. A young student won the competition for the building. The result was the high-point of the Beaux Arts period of architecture in Paris. The building terminates one of Haussman s axes in a perforated façade, through which patrons filter into the lobby dominated by one of the most famous stairs in Paris. The lobby is worth a look. The reason this style is known as Beaux Arts is of some interest. The first The Paris Opera House. school of architecture (anywhere) is L Écôle des Beaux Arts, advocating a style that became known as Neo Grec. It advocated a simpler approach to design, an approach that was more structurally honest, which embraced new technologies. The Beaux Arts was about the construction of decoration, while the Neo Grec was the decoration of construction. One of the most famous Neo Grec buildings is the Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève. Compared to the Opera, this library is a model of restraint. The decoration is relatively flat and simple. One enters at the center of a long façade dominated by a long arcade of deep arches. Upon entering the main reading room, it is surprising to find the roof supported by a line of narrow cast iron columns and arches. Here the new technology is not hidden (as it is in the Opera) - instead, it is exposed and embraced. If the building looks familiar, it should. On a basic level, Beaux Arts architecture in America really draws on the Neo Grec designers for precedent. The massing of the Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève is copied in the Boston Public Library, the New York Public Library and the old Chicago Public Library on Michigan Avenue. Inside the Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève, and below, the exterior. In fact, the success of American architects in executing this French style lead to the first example of reverse migration from America to France. The Columbian Exposition of Chicago in 1893, a complex of plaster of Paris monoliths built in what is now Jackson Park, influenced designers all over the world. The only surviving building is the Museum of Science and Industry. In Paris, the Grand Palais and Petit Palais built in 1900, copy in stone, steel and glass the architecture of the Columbian Exposition. It is possible to imagine the chain of design events that lead from Geneviève, across the Atlantic, and again back to France.

6 These buildings are near the Eiffel Tower, built in 1899 to commemorate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. Don t miss it; it is worth the wait to get to the top. It s a great spot from which to study Haussman s plan of the city. TWENTIETH CENTURY DESIGN Nôtre Dame de la Raincy AUGUST PERRETT Unlike Rome, Paris remained a design leader through the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Centuries. There are five buildings that deserve particular attention. Just east of Paris on the interurban train line is a little town called Raincy. In this city, August Perrett designed a small church. Perrett could be classified as an early modernist, yet his career spanned the entire first half of the Twentieth Century. The best way to The Eiffel Tower (above) and one of Le Corbusier s urban townhouses. think of his approach is to imagine traditional forms being executed using modern materials and details. His most famous work is a small apartment building on the right bank of the Seine near the Tour Eiffel. He also designed the Michelin Headquarters Building, a major theater in Paris, and the entire city center of Le Harve after World War II. All of these projects maintain the symmetry and massing of classical architecture. This is also true of Nôtre Dame de la Raincy, but in this case the transformation is magical. The colored glass transforms the interior into a luminous room. In addition, the cast in place concrete, which was always his preferred material, is carefully detailed and amazingly Gothic in its slenderness. Foundation Le Corbusier LE CORBUSIER Though Frank Lloyd Wright liked to think of himself as the greatest architect of the Twentieth Century, Le Corbusier is the guy. The Foundation Le Corbusier is housed in two of his urban townhouses. They are excellent examples of his work from Once inside, you will see that Chicago townhouses designed in the 60 s, 70 s, and 80 s drew heavily on these buildings. Perrett s Nôtre Dame de la Raincy.

7 Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye Just ouside of Paris is one of Le Corbusier s most significant and recognized designs: the Villa Savoye. The design is built around a ramp that connects in wonderful ways the three levels of this country estate. In an ambiguous way, the ramp is both one option for moving through the house and is a spiral stair that acts as a recurring sculptural element on the interior. The exterior is a powerful, horizontally composed box with strip windows, supported off the ground with impossibly thin columns. Le Corbusier s intent was to dematerialize the building - architecture escaping the earth as a symbol of the Twentieth Century. In order to see it, I think you will have to drive to this building. Centre Pompidou RICHARD ROGERS and RENZO PIANO In the 1960 s there was a group of visionary British architects called Archigram. They advocated an approach I can only describe as anti-architecture. Their buildings weren t buildings as much as structural frames filled with bits of metal, glass, mechanical equipment, information technology and other things that kind of defined enclosure. The concept was a hit; it was the anti-establishment architecture. However, they never built anything. Happily, British architect Richard Rogers won the competition for the new modern art museum in Paris and for the first time executed the concept. The result (filled with great art) illustrates what can happen when concept hits reality. Go to this building for the art. Arab Institute JEAN NOUVEL The latest in French architecture is represented by the Arab Institute by Jean Nouvel. The building is a wonderful piece of technology - a successful Centre Pompidou - but does not abandon traditional principles. The shape responds to the sliver shape of the site to create a most memorable form. Check out the flat south wall; the intricate pattern of apertures each contains a tiny metal shutter that closes down when the sun comes out. Only the Arabs could afford this.

8 Parc de la Villette ( ) BERNARD TSCHUMI Parc de la Villette represents a new concept for planning public spaces. Instead of defining spaces and distances with walls, the park is defined with a series of red follies set on a continuous grid. The park is near LeDoux s gate at Place Stalingrad and although easily reached my metro, it is far from central Paris. CANAL TRIP. One of the most interesting ways of reaching Parc de la Villette is via canal boat from Place Bastille. To the right of the Opera House as you face it, you will see a series of boats. You can pay to ride up the canal to La Villette. The first part of the trip is underground. This portion of the canal had been open until the 18th Century when the Parisians decided to build a masonry vault to cover the canal. The masonry work is fascinating, given that we would have poured it out of concrete. The last half of the trip is open-air and involves passing through a series of locks. The trip takes about two hours. MUSIC BUILDING. The most interesting building at the Parc de la Villette is by Portzamparc. Done in a neo-deconstructivist style, it has an imposing façade. Most American architects think the use of materials is very French - that is, different tiles, metals, and stone are applied to the façade as if they were paint. This contrasts with the Gehry building that follows. Of great interest is the Music Museum. When you enter, you are The Music Building. made to take headphones. As you move through the building, you follow the evolution of musical instruments. As you walk up to a display case, the instrument begins to play through the headphones. Often missed at the very end of the tour is a model of IRCAM. This is the experimental theater located across from Centre Pompidou. The model illustrates how the walls and ceilings are made up of triangular rotating panels. Each side has a different sound absorbency. In addition, the ceiling plane can be raised and lowered. The concept (again, very French) is that the conductor not only directs the musicians, but can play the room by rotating the panels and raising and lowering the ceiling during a performance.

9 American Academy FRANK GEHRY This building is located in a park just north of the new national library. It was completed by Frank Gehry and is one of his best buildings. It is done in his signature expressionist style with convoluted forms of masonry and shards of glass lashed to the exterior to define window openings. It is clearly a precursor to the Guggenheim Bilbao. It has an unfortunate history that tarnished Gehry s career until the world saw Bilbao. As the story goes, the Director of the Academy gave Gehry a budget for the building, which was met. Unfortunately, this was the entire endowment of the Academy. Supposedly, there was a board meeting the day before the building opened when the Treasurer reported that the institution was bankrupt. The board had no choice but to vote the Academy out of existence, and the building was never opened. I have heard that someone has purchased the building. I am not sure if it is open, but it is still worth seeing just for the exterior. Cartier Foundation JEAN NOUVEL The Cartier Foundation features a fabulous composition of glass panes that parallel the street. Crossing planes of glass define the interior spaces. The fascinating design idea is that the main surfaces sometimes extend beyond the building so that BOTH sides of the glass are exterior. The shimmering surfaces give the building a jewel-like quality. The architect is Jean Nouvel - perhaps the best known contemporary French architect. The building is not open to the public. Joseph Valerio