Charles Garnier 1825 1898

Charles Garnier (Paris 1825-1898). The eclectism of this French architect enables him to be placed within the Second Imperial style. His works can be considered as archetypal examples of Neo-classical Renaissance and baroque architecture. His greatest undertaking was the Opera House in Paris (1861-1875), highly relevant for the subsequent development of architecture in the nineteenth century. The overall effect is harmonious but different styles and decorations are combined together through sculptures, frescos and marble. In 1900 the opera was moved to the Bastille and since then Garnier's building has been home to the Paris Opera Ballet Company. The fame of this construction was such that it even managed to push other noteworthy works, such as the Vila Eilenroc (1867), into the background.

Cette collection est entièrement consacrée à la biographie et à l'oeuvre d'un architecte. Ce premier numéro porte sur Charles Garnier (1825-1898), architecte de l'opéra du même nom, symbole de l'époque du second Empire. Avec un catalogue de ses oeuvres.

By making systematic use of the mostly unpublished Opera Archive, Mead fills in the missing links to previous investigations and unlocks the significance of this seminal masterpiece.

The author here presents an architectural history of Paris, stretching from the 3rd century BC up until the end of the 20th century.

Lavishly illustrated, this beautiful book explores the evolution of portraiture since the end of the 18th century.

Here, for the first time in this century, is an opportunity to reexamine the philosophy of the Beaux-Arts school of architecture, whose two-hundred-year history represented the body of ideas and buildings against which the modern movement rebelled. Based on the doctrines of architecture formulated by the French Academy during the eighteenth century, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts system of instruction stressed drawing as the primary means of visualizing architectural form. The Concours du Grand Prix de Romewas the ultimate test of ability, and thus the index of the Academy's ideals throughout this period. This book reproduces, in more than 200 drawings, projects for the Grand Prix and for virtually every other type of competition or assignment at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Included are drawings by students who subsequently became preeminent as professional architects—among them Henri Labrouste, architect of the Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve, and Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera. All illustrations are accompanied by extensive explanatory captions, and a selection of important larger studies appear on specially folded inserts, enabling the reader to view them in unusually clear and precise detail. Complementing the student work reproduced here is a selection of photographs by major Beaux-Arts buildings executed in France and the United States. In all, the book contains 423 illustrations, 23 in color, and 10 inserts. The Architecture of the Ecole des Beaux-Artsoffers an enlightening analysis of the school. The authors examine Beaux-Arts concepts of theory and practice and assess major work by each of the school's main factions. The essay by Richard Chafee covers the school's complex political and administrative history and is followed by a survey of the school's evolving notions of architectural composition—from Charles Percier through Garnier—by David Van Zanten. Neil Levine discusses the emergence of the Neo-Grecand the ideas of Labrouste, which in their preoccupation with literature and meaning in architecture parallel some recent concerns. In the final essay, Arthur Drexler examines such issues as the uses of the past, the ethical implications of style versus "non-style," and the techniques of visualizing buildings that have influenced the development of modern architecture.