1. 1. The first medieval town wall, built around
1200.
2. The second medieval wall from the end of
the fourteenth century, which under Louis
XIV made way for the promenades which
would become the grands boulevards of
today.
3. The tariff wall of 1780, demolished in the
1860s and replaced by the boulevards
extérieurs.
4. The ring of fortifications of the 1840s, later
in 1860 to become the municipal and tariff
border. Today roughly the site of the
boulevards périphériques just outside the
present municipal border.
Paris.
Apart from some of the churches there were practically
no monumental accents. The old, spontaneously
evolving network of narrow and twisty streets, most of
which ran parallel or away from the bank of the river,
was already inadequate. Over- population and the
absence of open public spaces added to the unhealthy
character of the town and must have made it a pretty
unpleasant place in which to live
2. • Under Haussmann the centre proper consisted, roughly speaking, of the Île de la Cité and
the area around Les Halles and the Hotel de Ville.
• Round this core there was an inner zone, bordered on the north side by the grand
boulevards.
• Then came an intermediate zone extending to the tariff wall and the outer ring of
boulevards; most of this area had been built up during the first half of the nineteenth
century.
• The adjoining outer zone was defined by the fortifications erected in the 1840s. In 1860
the city and the tariff boundary were moved out to this defence ring.
• The central zone was heavily developed
• vacant land for housing construction, industrial establishments etc. was to be found
above all in the outer zone.
• As a result of the wretched conditions in the urban core and its lack of good
communications with the surrounding districts, the functional city centre was beginning
to shift westwards.
3. Above: Île de la Cité, 1754.
Below: after Haussmann’s
regulations. 1. Sainte Chapelle. 2.
Notre-Dame. 3. Hôtel-Dieu. 4.
Palais de Justice. 5. Place
Dauphine. 6. Tribunal de
Commerce. 7. Caserne de la Cité
(now Préfecture de Police). The
letters designate bridges. [From
Lameyre (1958)]
• Buildings, politics, and
aesthetics:
Haussmann envisioned a city
focused visually and
functionally on major
institutions like RR stations; the
opera house, the town hall, the
cathedral, etc; major
architectural units linked by
great avenues; also monuments
like Notre Dame isolated and
turned into museum pieces
4. • During a time of industrial change and cultural advancement, Paris became the new
home for many, overcrowding the ancient districts and spreading disease. The city,
which had been untouched since the Middle Ages, was in dire need of reflecting the
new modern ways and putting an end to the spreading medical epidemics. The tight
confines of Medieval Paris were hindering the city’s potential for growth and desire to
transform into a well-organized urban center. Napoleon III set about bringing order
and structure to the chaotic, cramped city and putting an end to its' identity crisis
• Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann, chosen by Napoleon III to lead the project,
created new roads, public parks, public monuments, as well as installing new sewers
and changing the architectural façade of the city. With the aid of the public,
Modernist Napoleon III set out to undertake one of the largest urban transformations
since the burning of London in 1666.
• In 1853, Haussman had outlined and began construction on a series of basic projects
that had been planned since the decision had been made to modernize the city. The
projects included creating a north-south axis in the city, developing the quarters
around the Opéra, as well as “the annexation of the suburbs to make them outer
arrondissements, the sewer system, and the water supply
• The next step in Haussmann’s plan for the new Paris was to divide the city into
arrondissements, or districts. The decision to divide Paris into these new districts
came about in 1853, at the same time as the decision to modernize the city
completely. The plan “implied the destruction of the old, heterogenous quarters in
the city center and the creation of large new quarters implicitly dividing the
population by economic status.
5. To accompany the new streets and provide visual unity to the entire city,
Haussmann and his team of architects constructed a unifying architectural façade
that changed the shape of Paris. As well as coating the city with a unifying style,
they also constructed new public buildings, such as L’Opéra , as well as many
other buildings
7. • Haussmann molded the city into a
geometric grid, with new streets running
east and west, north and south, dividing
Medieval Paris into new sections. His
plan brought symmetry to the city
• The widening of the streets would relieve
the cramped city and allow for the people
to get around more easily. It also allowed
for an increase in height of the buildings,
providing more room for the people of Paris
to live and thrive in. Running alongside the
new roads,were rows of chestnut trees,
which allowed Haussmann to maintain the
geometric and symmetrical aesthetic that
he had created with the new roads. And
where he struggled to maintain his visual
order, new public spaces and monuments
were erected.
9. Streets included in Haussmann’s improvement
and regularization programme. White sections
of street were built before 1854, solid black
sections before 1870 and dotted sections after
the fall of the Second Empire, but still largely in
accordance with Haussmann’s intentions. The
hatched area indicates the municipality of Paris
up to 1860, when the municipal boundary was
extended to the outer fortification ring.
A map of Haussmann’s streets
confusing impression.
However, a closer examination
does reveal, if not any
superordinate plan, at least a
guiding idea, namely to
facilitate communications
within the central parts of Paris
and between these areas and
the peripheral districts of the
city.
