Paris Mansions and Apartments 1893 by Pierre Gelis-Didot

Author:Pierre Gelis-Didot
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780486154312
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-12T04:00:00+00:00

§ 3. The Buildings in Hôtels et maisons de Paris.

The buildings illustrated by Gélis-Didot in Hôtels et maisons de Paris reveal little about new materials or construction techniques: they appear to be sophisticated exercises in style and in the careful planning of private interior spaces. Since the eighteenth century, French architects regarded the art of “distribution” or interior planning as one of their major contributions to modern architecture. Jacques-François Blondel, an influential teacher in eighteenth-century Paris, published a number of works illustrating the principles of distribution that remained authoritative well into the twentieth century. In The Decoration of Houses (1897), Edith Wharton cites Blondel’s work among numerous other French publications on interior planning and design, leaving no doubt that at the time of writing France was the leading nation when it came to domestic architecture.

The complexity of interior distribution, especially in elite Paris residences, lay in properly accommodating a variety of conflicting functions ranging from the formal and intimate spaces occupied by members of the family to service spaces such as stables, kitchens, and laundries. The plans of elite residential buildings illustrated in Hôtels et maisons de Paris reveal the finely tuned techniques for separating the different individuals who occupied these buildings and for accommodating a range of specialized functions. Covered passages for carriages, courtyards separating the main house from service quarters, and such specialized spaces as winter gardens appear in many of the designs and speak to a heightened desire for comfort and privacy. Strategies employed for reinforcing class boundaries and providing for hygiene may be gleaned from close attention to the organization of spaces and circulation patterns in the building plans. Though these seem to be a minor element of the book, Gélis-Didot notes that the plans throughout are illustrated at the same scale for easy comparison and their individual rooms are labeled, making them legible to a trained eye.

One notable sub-category of residential building included in Hôtels et maisons de Paris are houses for artists, three of which may be identified. These buildings attest not only to the special interior spaces and distributions required for work, display, and the transaction of business, but also to the elevated social status enjoyed by elite artists whose residences spoke to their professional success. Gélis-Didot’s collection opens with a house at 36 boulevard des Invalides designed by Charles Mewès, which happens also to have been the architect’s own residence. The relatively modest exterior—embellished with Mannerist detailing such as rustication and exaggerated voussoirs—suggests a sixteenth-century Italian palazzo [plates 1–2]. The architect’s studio and office were located on the ground floor of the building, adjacent to the main entrance. Mewès’s house might be compared to Otto Wagner’s exactly contemporary house and studio on the Renweg in Vienna (1889), an even more opulent statement of the architect’s social ambitions and debt to Renaissance masters.

A similar statement of an artist’s professional and social status is the house located at 61 rue Ampère designed for François Flameng (1856–1923), a hugely successful history painter, portraitist, and illustrator elected to the Institut de France in 1905 [plates 27–28].

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