Category Archives: Paris architecture

Zinc

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Parisian Fields

So many sights in Paris pique our curiosity and lead us to learn things we would not have learned otherwise. This blog post began as we thought about the beauty of Paris’s zinc roofs. One could argue that zinc roofs … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history | Tagged Belgium, Bon Marche, Esperanto, galvanizing, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Jean-Jacques Dony, Liège, Maison de la Metallurgie et de l’Industrie, Moresnet, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, roofing, Société Anonyme des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne, UNESCO, Vieille Montagne, white rust, zinc bars | 23 Comments

Entresol

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Parisian Fields

Thinking about the chambres de bonne last month reminded me of another distinctive space found in many older Paris buildings – the entresol. It, too, provided a space where servants might sleep, unless it was being used for storage or … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture | Tagged André Kertesz, Being John Malkovich, Bœuf à la Mode, Charles Joseph Antoine Lansiaux, Club de l’Entresol, Colette, entresol, Eugene Atget, John Cusack, Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Opéra Garnier, Palais Royal, Passage Choiseul, Place Dauphine, Place des Victoires, rue de la Harpe, Rue de la Paix, rue des Petits Champs | 14 Comments

Chambre de bonne

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Parisian Fields

When I was a student in Paris, I lived in a chambre de bonne (maid’s room) at the top of a building on the corner of the rue du Ranelagh and the rue Raynouard in the 16th arrondissement. My room … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture | Tagged Bertall, chambre de bonne, chambre de service, double circulation, Edmond Texier, Jean-Maurice Lesage, L’Electricité dans la maison, Le Tableau de Paris, Louis Poyet, Lucie-Aline-Marie Lucet, Paris Roman d'une Ville, rue du Ranelagh, rue Raynouard, studette | 20 Comments

Rooftops

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Parisian Fields

One of our favourite TV programs, Dix Pour Cent/Call My Agent,* opens with the following image, taken either from the roof of the Louvre or from a drone. It is never on screen for more than a few seconds, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris shops, Paris streets | Tagged Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, Call My Agent, Couvent des Feuillants, Dix Pour Cent, DTACC, Grands Magasins du Louvre, Hall des Tapis, Le Bon Coin, Maje, Matthaüs Merian, Oratoire du Louvre, Renaissance Paris République, rue de Marengo, rue de Rivoli, rue St-Honoré, Val de Grace | 38 Comments

Empty streets

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Parisian Fields

Birdsong. That’s what I hear these days when I wake up. Not the sounds of neighbours going to work or getting the kids ready for school. But the sound of robins and sparrows and starlings. I hope our friends in … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris streets | Tagged A. Cayeux, Charles Marville, dégagement, Edouard-Denis Baldus, Eugene Atget, F. Nobécourt, Jean-Jacques Berger, Louis Daguerre, Patrice Roy, Sabrina Lynn Hughes, Société Héliographique, Tour St. Jacques | 8 Comments

Art Nouveau and Aerodynamics in Auteuil

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Parisian Fields

The southern reaches of the 16th arrondissement might be considered the Wild West of Paris. Auteuil was largely countryside when Haussmann was at work on central Paris, and his ideas about tidy facades that lined up neatly never stood much … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris quartiers | Tagged Auteuil, Charles Deron-dit-Levent, Gaston Danois, Gustave Eiffel, Hector Guimard, Hotel Danois, Hotel Deron-Levent, Joachim Richard, Laboratoire Aerodynamique Eiffle, Le Tunnel Brasserie, Louis Victor Jassedé, Soufflerie Eiffel | 4 Comments

The ugliest building in Paris

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Parisian Fields

In the last blog, I mentioned Gabriel Davioud, who is credited with designing some of the classic street furniture of Paris. I wanted to know more about him. That proved to be a challenge. The ordinarily helpful Gallica offered 25 … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris expositions, Paris history | Tagged Aquarium du Trocadéro, Charles Blanc, Charles Percier, Charles-Marie Widor, Exposition Universelle de 1878, Gabriel Davioud, Jacques Carlu, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Jules Bourdais, Jules Simon, Marcel Proust, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon II, Palais de Chaillot, Palais du Roi de Rome, Pierre Fontaine, Trocadéro | 11 Comments

A web of friends and a ceremony in a former corset factory

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Parisian Fields

For many, Paris is the City of Light, grand museums, or extravagant shopping forays. For us, it is the City of Surprises, and now, a city of friends. Several years ago, when we started research on the history of communications … Continue reading →

Posted in History of the blind, Paris architecture | Tagged Association Valentin Haüy, Auguste Claverie, Canal St-Martin, Cap-Digital, Louis Braille, Order of Merit, Zina Weygand | 21 Comments

Gustave Eiffel did not sleep here

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Parisian Fields

On a recent visit to Laywine’s, our favourite pen and stationery store in Toronto, Philippa picked up a desk pad made by the French paper firm Exacompta, and found the following note on the front: Made in the heart of … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, World War I | Tagged Clairefontaine, Compagnie Parisienne d’air comprimé, Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d’Électricité, Denis Cosnard, Exacompta, G. Lalo, Labor, Mignon, Paul Friésé, Quai de Jemmapes, Rhodia, Saderne, Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques | 9 Comments

Paris Elevators: A Tiny Story

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Parisian Fields

I am sure many of our readers have stayed in those small hotels that are so typical of Paris. Over the years they have been reconfigured to add modern conveniences that were not in the original design. We remember one … Continue reading →