(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.

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.

Contemporary, 1980 to Present

In the 1980s, President Mitterrand unveiled a new architectural concept to move Paris into the next millennium. His “grands travaux” brought both praise and horror as they evolved, but no one can deny that the final result is a renewed and diverse city. Mitterrand is responsible for commissioning the Grand Louvre’s new glass pyramid entrance (created by I.M. Pei), the move of the Ministry of Finance into a new building (designed by Paul Chemetov), the Grande Arche de la Defense (by Von Spreckelsen), the Cité de la Musique (by Pritzer-prize winner Christian de Portzamparc), the Institut du Monde Arabe (by Jean Nouvel), the Opera Bastille (by the less-accomplished Carlos Ott), and the new library (by Dominique Perrault), now named the Bibliotèque François-Mitterrand.  Apartment buildings from this period offer large windows and storage space, but lack the architectural details of previous styles.