Parisian Architecture of the Belle Epoque

Turn of the century Paris is often referred to as the belle époque, a golden age of affluence and artistic creativity before the turmoil of the First World War. This was the Paris of artists such as Bonnard, Rodin, Seurat and Vuillard, as well as writers and musicians such as Debussy, Zola and Maupassant. The Eiffel Tower had just been built and the Moulin Rouge was in its heyday – Paris was the cosmopolitan capital of pleasure and culture. The architecture of the period, however, has generally been neglected known only for the Art Nouveau designs of Guimard’s Metro entrances and restaurants such as Maxim’s. This book, based on a thorough survey of Parisian buildings of the era, connects the medievalism of Viollet-le-Duc, the classical tradition of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and early developments in metal and concrete construction with modern pioneers like Perret, de Baudot and Sauvage. Including the exuberant designs by architects working in the ‘Ritz style’, as well as the work of a multitude of architects whose names are at present unknown, Parisian Architecture of the Belle Epoque is a truly comprehensive and visually sumptuous study of this under exposed period of architecture.