| Charles Garnier | |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Charles Garnier |
| Nationality | French |
| Birth date | 6 November, 1825 |
| Birth place | |
| Date of death | 3 August, 1898 |
| Work | |
| Significant buildings | Paris Opéra Opéra de Monte-Carlo |
| Awards and prizes | Prix de Rome - 1848 |
Charles Garnier (6 November 1825 - 3 August 1898) was a French architect, designer of the Paris Opéra and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Contents |
Education
Student of Louis-Hippolyte Lebas at the École royale des Beaux-Arts de Paris beginning in 1842, he obtained the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1848. The subject of his final examination was entitled: "Un conservatoire des arts et métiers, avec galerie d'expositions pour les produits de l'industrie". He became a pensioner at the Académie de France à Rome from 17 January to 31 December 1849. He traveled through Greece which provided him the subject of his fourth year submission, presented at the Paris Salon in 1853. He visited Greece with Edmond About and Constantinople with Théophile Gautier. He worked on the Temple of Aphaea in Aegina where he insisted on polychromy. He was named in 1874, member of the Institut de France, in the architecture section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Works
In France
- In Paris :
- Palais Garnier
- Théâtre Marigny (ex-Panorama de Marigny)
- The circle of the librairy, boulevard Saint-Germain
- The hôtel particulier rue du Docteur-Lancereaux (the "maison opéra")
- Tomb of Jacques Offenbach, cimetière de Montmartre (1880)
- The Ateliers Berthier, on the boulevard of the same name, the annex of the Opéra and it's fabrication workshops for decorations and storage of costumes and scenery. This building was his last realisation.
- In Provence :
- The casino and thermal baths of Vittel
- The église of Chapelle-en-Thiérache
- The Astronomical Observatory in Nice (in collaboration with the engineer Gustave Eiffel)
Abroad
- In Monaco :
- The casino, the opéra and the Grand Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo
- In Bordighera, Italy where he stayed often, he was the architect of:
- The Église de Terrasanta
- The École Communale, today the Mairie de la ville
- Villa Bischoffsheim (now the Villa Etelinda)
- Villa Garnier (1872)
- Villa Studio
Quotes
- In 1851, alors qu'il est pensionnaire à la Villa Médicis à Rome et à l'occasion d'un voyage à Athens, Garnier s'exclame en découvrant le Parthenon : "Il n'y a pas à choisir entre les arts, il faut être Dieu ou architecte."
- "Les ingénieurs ont de fréquentes occasions d'employer le fer en grandes parties, et c'est sur cette matière que plus d'un fonde l'espoir d'une architecture nouvelle. Je lui dis tout de suite, c'est là une erreur. Le fer est un moyen, ce ne sera jamais un principe."
