The Maison Lavirotte
More Art Nouveau and more Paris…. I can’t believe I missed this place when I was in Paris for a week, staying just a few streets away. The building is at 29 Avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement and I crossed that street several times when walking to the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.
The architect was Jules Lavirotte (1864–1929) and the building was named after him following its construction in 1901. His other works aren’t as excessively florid as this, nor do they display the Nouveau elegance of contemporaries such as Hector Guimard, so this façade may owe more to the capitulations of fashion than innate style. The attractively unclad figures on the pediment cock their hips at passers-by in a provocative manner that would never be allowed in British architecture of the period, and the door has some great details with stylised peacocks between the windows and a huge brass lizard for the handle.
• More Parisian doorways
• Jules Lavirotte at Structurae
Previously on { feuilleton }
• The Palais du Trocadéro
• The House with Chimaeras
• Paris V: Details
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Thombeau
Wow. Absolutely amazing.
Mar 20th, 2008
John
Yeah, imagine living there! The 7th arr. had other nice buildings down some of its side streets. None as good as this place but I should have taken more photos in the area.
Mar 20th, 2008
peacay
Stunning thanks John. Here’s a full building shot. These motifs on either side of the window particularly caught my eye - they look like a cross between a G-clef and a fern unfolding.
*wanders off to see if any drawings are online*
Mar 20th, 2008
peacay
Oh, how is your french? (29 A. Rapp)
Mar 20th, 2008
John
My French isn’t good enough to make much sense of those pages, unfortunately, but the pictures are great. The full building shot is nice since everyone seems to concentrate on the details. It’s almost Gaudi-like in structure and decoration and looks like there’s some kind of roof garden up there as well.
Mar 20th, 2008
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