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Garnier's goal was to make everyone who entered the opera feel as if they were the stars of the show. Garnier said he chose red for the soft velvet interiors to "complement the ladies' blushing low necklines"! The dominant interior colors are red and gold. Garnier chose six types of stone and precious metals to reference classical temples. The front facade with massive columns references the Louvre. He expertly employed classic principles such as symmetry and concentric forms within rectangular frames, and gave the opera house the pomp of a palace. Oh, and the destructiveness of the Paris Commune.Ĭharles Garnier's travels, his study of Greek and Roman classics, and his Beaux-Arts training is evident in the design and decoration for the opera house. Then, of course, there was that pesky Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71. One problem arose with the discovery of an underground lake - it took almost a year to pump out the water. The architect Charles Garnier faced a number of challenges during the fourteen-year construction (originally estimated to take seven years). Emperor Napoleon III's vision was to create a temple to the arts, a world center for artistic pursuits, and an architectural wonder of the age.
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When it was completed in 1875 Palais Garnier was one of the largest opera houses in the world. 10 Fun & Fabulous Facts About Palais Garnier
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