June 9th: Haussmann's Paris

The invention of the camera and Eugene Atget’s exploration of the “old Paris” could not have been more timely, as the layout and structure of Paris would soon be altered in favor of a city that reflected the modern era. Napoleon commissioned Georges-Eugene Haussmann to rebuild Paris in order to make the city more modern as well as to facilitate better hygiene. The most noticeable in the new layout of Paris was the emergence of the wide boulevards. Before the reconstruction, Paris was compromised of mainly small, narrow streets. Napoleon favored the wide boulevards for security reasons; he felt he could better protect against civil war in Paris if the army was able to easily march through the streets.

During the reconstruction, Haussmann also brought water and plumbing into Paris. This significantly improved the cleanliness of the city and the hygiene of the Parisians. Making the city more attractive was important to Napoleon, as he wanted to keep up with the modern architecture appearing throughout the world, especially in New York City.

As the streets of Paris widened, Haussmann made sure to add features that aided the Parisians in navigating around their new cities. One such feature was the presence of a monument at the end of each wide boulevard. These monuments improved the beauty of the city as well as providing directional cues to orient oneself. Another new feature for the directionally savvy was the emergence of passageways. These passageways acted as shortcuts for the Parisians and also connected the building and residents of Paris in a new way.

Perhaps the most important new building built in the nineteenth century was the Opera House. This was not only because Napoleon’s private apartments were located here, but also because of the architectural features of the building. The Opera House reflected the moment at which is what built and the intersect of traditional and modern that was happening at the time. The building is made of a mix of the traditional marble and the modern iron. It also reflected the pride of Paris. The bust of many famous composers can be seen on the Opera House, as well as the incorporation of boats into the architecture, which were the symbol of Paris. The Opera House was a building the Parisians could be proud of and unite over.