(1100-1526)

During the early Middle Ages, the people of Paris poached entire sections of the sturdier Roman walls to use for their own buildings. You can still find roman stones in the cellars of the medieval half-timbered buildings found mostly in the 4th arrondissement but also in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6^th.

Interiors have low pier and beam ceilings, walls are half-timber or exposed stone, and the layout tends to have small and irregular sized rooms. These Pain de Bois buildings are structured around a staircase with a wooden or stone load-bearing axis at the center and a cellar of vaulted caves, both of which make installing an elevator in these buildings almost impossible.

Religious buildings also survive, beginning with the Romanesque style (round arched windows) and then evolving into Gothic style (pointed arches, cross vaults and flying buttresses). 

(1515-1643)

When François I took over the French throne, he surrounded himself with the best creative minds of the time, inviting Leonardo da Vinci to Paris and hiring Italian architects to renovate the Louvre; the French capital surged with life and new buildings.

When François died in 1547, the city was torn apart by Catholic and Protestant factions. Henri IV, finally brought peace to Paris and was determined to restore its brilliance. He completed the Pont Neuf, extended the Louvre and reorganized the entranceways of the city. His most beautiful public legacy is the Place Royale. This was also the era of the magnificent private urban chateaux known as “hôtels particuliers,” which developed in the Latin Quarter, the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the Quartier du Palais-Royal (Rue Saint-Honoré) for the noble class.

(1803-1840)

The Revolution devastated Paris and the city’s architecture suffered alongside its people. Royal chambers were torn apart by mobs, churches were looted and demolished, and ordinary apartments burned. Barely a decade after Louis XVI was decapitated, Napoleon was firmly in power. The Napoleonic style is a mishmash of neo-classic impulses. Decoration was stimulated by excavations in Pompeii and archeological discoveries in Greece. Classical references pleased Napoleon, since they suited his ambitions for an expanding Empire. Napoleon wisely set up massive building projects to keep Parisians employed, and his largest urban projects shaped today’s city. Napoleon also ordained that streets should be numbered odd on one side, even on the other, a remarkably practical concept that hadn’t occurred to anyone before.

Through the Seventies

These years are often seen as a disaster for French architecture. Some terrible mistakes were made, in particular the destruction of Les Halles in central Paris. Building styles from the 1950’s had to meet a large demand for new housing quickly and affordably as almost no new housing in Paris had been created during the previous 20 years. To meet the demand over 2500 buildings were constructed during the decade but Paris did not have a coherent building plan in place so developers were left to their own whims as to the height and size of their buildings with little concern for the surrounding architecture. Developers often prioritised profit over architectural beauty but they provided the Parisian population with well-equipped, low-rent housing. At the same time this was the period of Le Corbusier and his influence can be seen in the luxury buildings of the period which often have large balconies, modern layouts, and lots of light. The majority of buildings from this period have a brick, stone or concrete façade, elevators, low ceilings, carpeting, and small rooms.

5 Rue de Nil, 2nd
tel: 01 40 39 96 19   |   M° Sentier
www.frenchie-restaurant.com

Chef Grégory Marchand may have learned some good tricks from Jamie Oliver, but his cozy eatery of classic yet inventive dishes has certainly earned him critical praise in his own right. If you can’t get a reservation there, directly the across the street is the newer Frenchy Wine Bar which serves tasty small plates and top notch wine in a rustic atmosphere – but get there early, no reservations taken.