I wasn't able to finish this book because I simply didn't have time; it had to go back to the library because, not surprisingly, someone else wanted to read it.
Therefore, I can only talk about the author's main contention and the first three chapters. The book begins with a 20-page introduction in which the author explains that the Paris we know today, and the idea of Paris as the ultimate tourist destination, the city of light, the city of romance, all start with Henri IV's desire to use a building program to restore Paris after it was greatly damaged by decades of religious war in the 16th century.
I should note that when I first had a desire to read this book I assumed it was about Baron Hausmann's work in the 19th century. In her introduction, DeJean explains that it is an erroneous view held by many that Baron Hausmann's transformed Paris from its medieval version but it is the work of the 17th century kings, financiers, and engineering boy wonders that transformed Paris and gave us the Pont Neuf, the Place des Vosges (then the Place Royale), and the Ile Saint Louis (then the Ile Notre Dame, named for its proximity to the Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cite).
Henri IV's work began with his decision, around the turn of the 17th century, to build the Pont Neuf. He was, among other things, concerned about creating infrastructure capable of holding the weight of carriages, the coming fashion in transportation. The new bridge was completed in 1609, and it was different from the other bridges then being used for many reasons. It was not lined with buildings as London Bridge and many other bridges were. Henri IV financed it not with rents from these buildings but from a tax on wine coming into the city. This bridge had broad, raised sidewalks for pedestrians, making crossing the bridge safer for them as carriages became more popular. The bridge was unusually wide, 75 feet, which made it possible for merchants, performers, and gossipers to congregate on the bridge which made quickly made it most important gathering place to pick up news.
The Place des Vosges began as a silk workshop. I loved learning about this. Henri IV inherited an economically depressed city in which aristocrats were buying Italian silk for their dress, an expensive practice which did nothing for France's economy. He resolved to create a silk industry in France and set up a workshop, with houses for the workers, on the old site of the Palace des Tournelles (which had been pulled down by Catherine de Medici after Henri III had been fatally injured in a joust there). He decreed that the houses should have regular fronts, and the square was originally built with housing on three sides and a silk workshop on the fourth. After Henri IV's death, his son did not pursue the project, which ended. The silk workshop became (I don't know if it was converted or pulled down) the fourth wall of housing facing the square. After some decades, the tradesmen who had lived there were replaced by aristocrats. Eventually, the Place des Vosges became the centerpiece of an affluent, desirable neighborhood called The Marais ("the marshes"). As its name suggests, much of this area, and much of the area on the right bank, was not developed at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
I can't remember why the Ile St. Louis was undertaken, but it was created from two other islands that already stood in the Seine: the Isle de Juifs and Isle de Vaches. Both islands were uninhabited and primarily used for grazing. An engineer named Marie, for whom one of the adjoining bridges is named, transformed the two islands into one. The island was buttressed with embankments. Innovatively, the street pattern was laid out in a grid. DeJean writes that the architecture of the houses built on the Ile Saint Louis influenced French architecture in and outside of Paris. Two great mansions were built on one end of the island; Baron Hausmann pulled the largest, the Hotel de Bretonvilliers, down to build the Pont Sully. There is an arch left which I think gives an indication of the beauty of the the building, which I suppose was really more like a complex. This is the style, smooth cut stone construction, which became our very idea of what is French architecture.
Let me go back to the Pont Neuf for a moment. The bridge was built with observation platforms; DeJean said that this was a new innovation (and it has continued since I saw a couple of observation platforms on Blackfriars Bridge the other day). De Jean says that this was the beginning of the mystique of Paris; people enjoyed stopping to view the Seine from the unique vantage point provided by the bridge and thus began an interest in urban views. She points out that the Pont Neuf was the first piece of urban infrastructure that was neither a palace, fortress or monument that attracted tourists. She sees it as the beginning of modern urban design, in which infrastructure itself may become a tourist attraction.
I know that later chapters of the book deal with other 17th century residential squares, the the design of the Tuileries and the Champs d'Elysee, and the civil unrest that took place in the middle of the 17th century.
It is especially interesting to me to read a consideration of the "beginning" of the romanticization of Paris as, coincidentally, just before I started this book I learned of "Paris Syndrome" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome) which is thought to be similar to Stendhal, or Florence, Syndrome. Fortunately, Joan deJean's elucidation of the history of Paris is not going to cause anyone to experience Paris Syndrome.
Therefore, I can only talk about the author's main contention and the first three chapters. The book begins with a 20-page introduction in which the author explains that the Paris we know today, and the idea of Paris as the ultimate tourist destination, the city of light, the city of romance, all start with Henri IV's desire to use a building program to restore Paris after it was greatly damaged by decades of religious war in the 16th century.
I should note that when I first had a desire to read this book I assumed it was about Baron Hausmann's work in the 19th century. In her introduction, DeJean explains that it is an erroneous view held by many that Baron Hausmann's transformed Paris from its medieval version but it is the work of the 17th century kings, financiers, and engineering boy wonders that transformed Paris and gave us the Pont Neuf, the Place des Vosges (then the Place Royale), and the Ile Saint Louis (then the Ile Notre Dame, named for its proximity to the Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cite).
Henri IV's work began with his decision, around the turn of the 17th century, to build the Pont Neuf. He was, among other things, concerned about creating infrastructure capable of holding the weight of carriages, the coming fashion in transportation. The new bridge was completed in 1609, and it was different from the other bridges then being used for many reasons. It was not lined with buildings as London Bridge and many other bridges were. Henri IV financed it not with rents from these buildings but from a tax on wine coming into the city. This bridge had broad, raised sidewalks for pedestrians, making crossing the bridge safer for them as carriages became more popular. The bridge was unusually wide, 75 feet, which made it possible for merchants, performers, and gossipers to congregate on the bridge which made quickly made it most important gathering place to pick up news.
The Place des Vosges began as a silk workshop. I loved learning about this. Henri IV inherited an economically depressed city in which aristocrats were buying Italian silk for their dress, an expensive practice which did nothing for France's economy. He resolved to create a silk industry in France and set up a workshop, with houses for the workers, on the old site of the Palace des Tournelles (which had been pulled down by Catherine de Medici after Henri III had been fatally injured in a joust there). He decreed that the houses should have regular fronts, and the square was originally built with housing on three sides and a silk workshop on the fourth. After Henri IV's death, his son did not pursue the project, which ended. The silk workshop became (I don't know if it was converted or pulled down) the fourth wall of housing facing the square. After some decades, the tradesmen who had lived there were replaced by aristocrats. Eventually, the Place des Vosges became the centerpiece of an affluent, desirable neighborhood called The Marais ("the marshes"). As its name suggests, much of this area, and much of the area on the right bank, was not developed at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
I can't remember why the Ile St. Louis was undertaken, but it was created from two other islands that already stood in the Seine: the Isle de Juifs and Isle de Vaches. Both islands were uninhabited and primarily used for grazing. An engineer named Marie, for whom one of the adjoining bridges is named, transformed the two islands into one. The island was buttressed with embankments. Innovatively, the street pattern was laid out in a grid. DeJean writes that the architecture of the houses built on the Ile Saint Louis influenced French architecture in and outside of Paris. Two great mansions were built on one end of the island; Baron Hausmann pulled the largest, the Hotel de Bretonvilliers, down to build the Pont Sully. There is an arch left which I think gives an indication of the beauty of the the building, which I suppose was really more like a complex. This is the style, smooth cut stone construction, which became our very idea of what is French architecture.
Let me go back to the Pont Neuf for a moment. The bridge was built with observation platforms; DeJean said that this was a new innovation (and it has continued since I saw a couple of observation platforms on Blackfriars Bridge the other day). De Jean says that this was the beginning of the mystique of Paris; people enjoyed stopping to view the Seine from the unique vantage point provided by the bridge and thus began an interest in urban views. She points out that the Pont Neuf was the first piece of urban infrastructure that was neither a palace, fortress or monument that attracted tourists. She sees it as the beginning of modern urban design, in which infrastructure itself may become a tourist attraction.
I know that later chapters of the book deal with other 17th century residential squares, the the design of the Tuileries and the Champs d'Elysee, and the civil unrest that took place in the middle of the 17th century.
It is especially interesting to me to read a consideration of the "beginning" of the romanticization of Paris as, coincidentally, just before I started this book I learned of "Paris Syndrome" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome) which is thought to be similar to Stendhal, or Florence, Syndrome. Fortunately, Joan deJean's elucidation of the history of Paris is not going to cause anyone to experience Paris Syndrome.
oh man! i'd love to read this one! thanks for stopping by and leaving a nice comment. glad you liked the pics/colors as much as i did! they were all "found" pictures.
ReplyDeletejust read your last couple of posts. i've been taking writing classes the past year and it is so interesting to see other peoples' reactions to writing and to wonder where those responses come from! i have so little time to read (much less write!) but you have made the france book and the verges (spellcheck does NOT want to let me write that name properly!) book materialize on my own reading list.
all best! mlle p.