Bibliotheque Nationale by Henri Labrouste at GreatBuildings

Architect

Henri Labrouste

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Location

Paris, France map

Date

1862 to 1868 timeline

Building Type

central library

Construction System

bearing masonry, iron columns, terra cotta vaults, truss roof

Climate

temperate

Context

urban

Style

Neoclassical

Notes

Original scheme by Etienne-Louis Boullee, 1785.

Images

Photo

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The new Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, shown in this photo, is a different building from the 1860s Bibliotheque Nationale by Henri Labrouste

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Aerial view of Bibliotheque Nationale

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Drawings

Plan Drawing	Drawing	Plan Drawing
Section Drawing

Drawing
Perspective Drawing

3D Model

3D Massing Model (DesignWorkshop 3dmf)

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Discussion

Bibliotheque Nationale Commentary

"Several proposals had been made for the Bibliotheque Nationale that were inspired by Etienne Boullee's scheme for the Bibliotheque Imperiale for the same site in 1785, but it wasn't until Labrouste's appointment in 1854 that substantial work began."

— Annabel Delgado, in Randall J. Van Vunckt, ed. International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture, Volume 2, Architecture, p222.

"The Reading Room is covered with a series of nine pendentived simple domes of terra-cotta, supported by twelve slender columns of iron, aranged in four rows, the outer columns standing close to the walls."

— Sir Bannister Fletcher, A History of Architecture, p1206.

Address

Quai Francois-Mauriac 75013.

Resources

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Amazon Books

Sources on Bibliotheque Nationale

Michael Brawne. Libraries: Architecture and Equipment. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970. LC 73-089609. Z679.B83. ground plan, p16 plate 16. interior perspective, p16 plate 15. section rendering, p16 plate 17.

Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture. London: The Butterworth Group, 1987. ISBN 0-408-01587-X. LC 86-31761. NA200.F63 1987. comments, p1206, photos of reading room and stacks, p1209. — The classic text of architectural history. Expanded 1996 edition available at Amazon.com

Jean-Marie Perouse De Montclos. Etienne-Louis Boullee. New York: George Braziller, 1974. ISBN 0-8076-0672-3. LC 72-92833. NA1053.B69P413. elevation drawing, f69. section drawing, f66. plan drawing, f65.

Randall J. Van Vunckt, ed. International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture : Volume 2, Architecture. Detroit: St. James Press, 1993. ISBN 1-55862-087-7. LC 93-13431. NA40.I48 1993. 720'.9-dc20. discussion, p222 and 224, reading room photo, p223.

Kevin Matthews. The Great Buildings Collection on CD-ROM. Artifice, 2001. ISBN 0-9667098-4-5.— Available at Amazon.com

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