Many of the bourgeoisie who moved from the city to the suburbs to escape its pollution came flocking back. Under the reign of Napoleon III, the population of Paris doubled. This was an effort on Napoleon III to maintain control over the Population of Paris, specifically the lower class in workers’ districts. It included protecting the government during civil unrest by widening the streets so barricades would be impossible and creating shorter routes between the barracks and lower class working districts. The rebuilding of Paris sought myriad outcomes beyond the sanitization and beautification of a polluted medieval city. The following year Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann was commissioned to begin the first phase of Paris’ rebuild lasting 1853-1870. This gave the government authority to expedite urban renewal while still “remaining a collaborative venture between public and private interests.” Drafting a new plan for Paris, President Louis-Napoléon signed a law in 1852 allowing the government to expropriate properties in way of rebuilding the city and its streets. The Second Empire, ruled by Napoleon III, the first President and last Monarch of France, would see to the most significant changes to France including the renovation of Paris. 2 (1995): 138įrance went through significant shift throughout the 19 th century witnessing the triumphs and failures of multiple republics, empires, and monarchies. “Urban Contingency and the Problem of Representation in Second Empire Paris.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 54, no. The interior spaces are as opulent as the exterior.

This section highlights the procession of spaces as a bourgeois ritual of Opera. Figure 1: Paris, Opera, 1861-75, by Charles Garnier: longitudinal section This entry will be looking at the Opera House through its socio-political context, its economic funding in relation to colonialism, and its legacy as a symbol of French Imperial Power. Dripping in opulence and grandeur, ‘Palais Garnier’ is the quintessential depiction of France’s Imperial Power acquired during the Second Empire rule representing the growing bourgeoisie population, Napoleon III’s political ambitions both domestically and internationally, and a legacy of symbology which transgressed into colonized regions. The Paris Opera House was designed and completed by Charles Garnier between 18.

Paris opera house charles garnier