“In the orchestra stalls, the drugget covering them looked like an angry sea, whose glaucous waves had been suddenly rendered stationary by a secret order from the storm phantom… They made for the left boxes, plowering their way like sailors who leave their ship and try to struggle to the shore. Gaston Leroux described the dramatic effect of the opulent drama: Dramatic statues of mythological gods and paintings of heavenly scenes attend these events and inspire fantasy in human to human interaction.
Each path is celebrated as a new event and opportunity for social interaction. A hierarchy of circulation paths range from grand front entrance steps, tall central lobby, and low dim hallways. An excited audience “which observes and knows itself observed.” A dominant red color, particularly in soft velvet interior materials, brought out the ladies’ blushing low neckline, Garnier said, a tapestry of beauty.ĭramatic Aesthetic – Garnier put early emphasis on easy circulation. Garnier intended this to inspire a “variety of outfits” in a “quivering” crowd. Six types of stone and a variety of wood and precious metals recall the color and grand scene of Classical temples. Garnier references other works in this facade, including Palladio’s Vicenz town hall, Versailles, and the Aile Lescot. The front facade is articulated with a piano-nobile loggia of columns that references the Louvre. The geometric exercise of a circular theater within a rectangular form is especially tricky as the straight city streets press upon the building on all sides and the front plaza impress the building’s geometry into its surroundings. Symmetry and concentric radial forms within rectangular frames are classic principles which Garnier expertly used. The the beaux-arts school taught him to mix historic symbols of the higher arts with modern building technology, with divergent results. Garnier’s travels and intense study of Greek and Roman classics is evident in his Théâtre National de l’Opéra. But Garnier rejected Modernism and modeled the opera house with the axis floorplan of a church and the lavish pomp of a palace. Nobody appreciated the sentimental old style. Impressionism, Symbolism, and Realism communicated in a new way. The opera was meant to be a world center for lofty artistic pursuits, which only the upper class could access, and as such was an architectural wonder of the age.Īppeal To Tradition – This was a new age for art and Modernism was in full swing. Baron Haussmann tore down significant portions of Paris to introduce modern avenues, uniform 6-story mixed living units, and grand civic centers. Napolean III envisioned a temple to the arts as the pinnacle of a modern movement. (Craigyc – flickr/creative commons license)Ĭharles Garnier designed the Opéra de Paris, completed in 1875 at the height of the Second Empire.
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