MORPHOLOGY OF Paris

Submitted by :
Sunil kumar nayak
Priya nair
Historical background

3rd centuryB.C. 52B.C. Around250A.D. 4th-9th centuries: 1163:

Settlement by a Julius Caesar seizesthe ParisChristianised. Frankish and Construction of the
Celtic fishermen. city. Norman invasions. Notre Dame Cathedral
begins.

Late 14thcentury
Black Death.

July 14,1789
Frenchrevolution
Fall of bastile
Evolution ofplanning
• Paris was born with the development of the villages on La Cite. But it got its name Paris, only in the 4th
century from its former nameLutetia.
• Early Parisians were fishermen, farmers, foresters, herdsmen and boatmen who had prospered on the banks
of the river Seine.In 51B.C.the Romansconquered Lutetia.
• Under the Roman Empire the region had prospered as a junction between the North-South and the Seine. La
Cite wasenclosedin awall due to persistent attacks from the barbarians.
• The Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century and the Merovingian's and the Carolingians came into
power.
• In the 9th century Paris was pillaged and ransomed by the Vikings. Crucial architectural development stated
during the reign of Philippe August in the 12th century. A second wall was constructed around the city that
had, by then, increasingly expanded to the North and the Southof the Seine.
• New growth sprungup along the major roads, becauseof inadequate spaceinside the city.
• The administration of Paris was reorganized in the year 1261 and was divided between the provost King (affairs
1.The first medieval town wall, built around of the state) and the provost merchant (local affairs). Thus we can see the organizational change of power
1200. where the merchants are allotted some power. Also for the fiscal register were furnished to list the taxpayers
2.The second medieval wall from the end of the and the numbers of households. Social and political changes during the same century helped bringing about
fourteenth century, which under Louis XIV made the building of cathedrals, excellence of the universities, the proliferation of colleges and convents, the
way for the promenades. 3. The tariff wall of installation of mendicant order and the flowering of Gothic.
1780, demolished in the 1860s. 4.The ring of
fortifications of the 1840s,later in 1860 to
become the municipal and tariff border
Evolution of planning
• In the 14th yet century another wall wasbuilt in northern Paris.The city wasdeveloping into acenter
of finance andaprincipal diplomatic center in Europe.

• Bythe end of the MiddleAgesParishad become acomplex urban structure consisting of severalcore
settlements now joined to one another. Apart from some of the churches there were practically no
monumental accents.The old, spontaneouslyevolving network of narrow and twisty streets, most of which
ran parallel or away from the bank of the river, wasalready inadequate

• Towards the end of the seventeenth century Paris, together with Vienna, was probably the most heavily
developed town in Europe. Houses were being built higher and higher, the courtyards becoming more
crampedand the traffic more chaotic in the narrow streets.

Victoires, designed and built in the 1680sunder the direction of J.H.Mansart by order of the Marechal de la
Feuillade. The architecture was of uniform design, and the centre of the square wasoccupied by astatue of LouisXIV
being crowned with alaurel wreath by aflying figure ofVictory.
Evolution ofplanning
•The along side map shows the
intersection of two movement system
,where the old Romanroads crossthe
RiverSeine.
•This established the design centre and the
line of force leading to the formation of
orientation for the classical Romancity

•Thismapshowsthe Medieval Parisas it wasfrom

1367to 1383.
•Theancient crossingdetermines the centre of
the tightly developed town
•Thewall defining the area of intensity at the
juncture of the movement system
•The inner dotted line shows the position of the
first wall built north of the river Paris in1300 Paris in 1600
•The pressure of city growth continued and the •A medieval walled city developed around •White line indicates the position of wall during
walls were further extended the crossingof the RiverSeine 1300
•TheLouvre palaceisthe point of origin of •Thegrey showsthe outward extension to the
the designforces new wall due to the pressure of city growth
 Evolution ofplanning
1760

• Proper watermains and sewage

systemwere prescribedin the plan.
• Narrow and pollutedstreets.
• Regular grid housingblocks.

1765

• New principal streets were added.

• More round openspaces were
prescribed.
• No pedestrianfootpath.
• Busyfood market around the open spaces.
1834

• New market halls were introduced in order

avoid the cramped market places along the
streets.
• Proper water conduitsprescribed.
• New sewage system prescribeddue
Planning principles
• Buildings, politics, and aesthetics:

• Haussmann envisioned a city focused

visually and functionally on major
institutions like RRstations; the opera
house,the town hall, the cathedral, etc.;

• major architectural units linked by great

avenues; also monuments like Notre Dame
isolated andturned into museum pieces
Planningprinciples
• 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
MiddleAges, wasin dire needof reflecting the new modern waysand putting anendto the
spreading medical epidemics.The tight confines of Medieval Pariswere 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, crampedcity and putting anend to its' identity crisis
• 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, aswell as“the annexation of the suburbsto make
them outer arrondissements,the sewer system,andthe 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 Parisinto these new districts came about in 1853,at the sametime 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 economicstatus.
• Toaccompanythe new streets and provide visual unity to the entire city, Haussmann and his team of
architects constructed aunifying architectural façade that changed the shapeof Paris.Aswell as coating the
city with aunifying style, they alsoconstructed new public buildings, suchasL’Opéra , as well as many other
buildings
Planning

Thefirst mapisof Pre-Haussmann Paris

Initial planning andexecution
• The new sewer system also helped create a cleaner Paris by channeling the waste water
and human waste away from thecity to ease on the smell and the dirt that would
make Paris seem uncivilized. Haussmann’s new buildings proved to be more functional
• With the rise of the nouveux riches came the need for hôtels or living spaces for the and stronger than the previous buildings inParis.
rich within the city. Unlike the simple, austere apartment houses, no expense was • Modern dayParis
spared on decoration and they were constructed in the most fashionable districts
within Paris. They were not neoclassical in style like the apartments, but a mixture of
early Renaissance and the ornate baroque style. The hôtels were symbols of wealth
and status and the rising modernity inParis.
• Sincethe undertaking of the modernization of Paris in the 1850’s, Haussmann’s name
has become ubiquitous with urban planning. With the help and approval of Napoleon
III, Haussmann was able to transform an entire city in aperiod of twenty years.
• The once Medieval city was now a modern power house with roomto grow.The
redistricting of the city, building of new roads, monuments, public spaces and places,
as well as new public works buildings and a new sewer system all added to the
grandeur of the city.
• Haussmann not only improved the appearance of Paris, but also the health of the
people. By widening the streets and building more housing, he eased the overcrowding
and lowered thethreat of disease.
Paris postHaussmann
• In the parliamentary elections of May 1869, the government candidates
won 4.43 million votes, while the opposition republicans won 3.35
million votes. In Paris, the republican candidates won 234,000 votes to
77,000 for the Bonapartist candidates, and took eight of the nine seats of
Paris deputies.
• At the same time Napoleon III was increasingly ill, sufferingfrom gallstones
which were to cause his death in 1873, and preoccupied by the political crisis
that would lead to the Franco- Prussian War.
• In December 1869 Napoleon III named an opposition leader and fierce critic of
Haussmann, Emile Ollivier, as his new prime minister. Napoleon gave in to the
opposition demands inJanuary 1870 and asked Haussmann to resign. Haussmann
refused to resign, and the Emperor reluctantly dismissed him on 5 January
1870.
• In his memoires, written many year later, Haussmann had this comment on his
dismissal: "In this eyes of the Parisians, who like routine in things but are
changeable when it comes to people, I committed two great wrongs; over the
course of seventeen years I disturbed their daily habits by turning Paris upside
down, and they had to look at the same face of the Prefect in the Hotel de
Ville. These were two unforgiveablecomplaints."
• Haussmann's successor as prefect of the Seine appointed Jean- Charles Alphand,
the head of Haussmann's department ofparks and plantations, as the Haussmann's boulevards crisscross Paris, seen from the top of the
director of works of Paris. Alphand respected the basic concepts of his plan.
Despite their intense criticism of Napoleon III and Haussmann during the TourMontparnasse.
Second Empire, the leaders of the new Third Republic continued and finished
his renovation projects.
Boulevard

Thethicklines representHaussmann
boulevard
Boulevard
• Haussmann molded the city into a geometric grid,
with new streets running east and west, north and
south, dividing Medieval Parisinto 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 anincreasein height of the buildings, providing
more room for the people of Paristo live and thrive in.
Runningalongsidethe 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 wereerected.
Roads and Transport

A map of Haussmann’s streets confusing impression. However, a closer

examination does reveal, if not any superordinateplan, at least aguiding idea,
namely to facilitate communications within the central parts of Parisand
between these areasand the peripheral districts of the city.

Streets included in Haussmann’s improvement and

regularization program.White sections of street were built
before 1854, solid black sections before 1870 and dotted
sections after the fall of the SecondEmpire, 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.