Immeuble, ancien siège du quotidien Le Parisien Libéré

English translation

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History

Planned from 1864 but opened only between 1897 and 1905, rue Réaumur is characterized by a great variety of facades. Several reasons explain this diversity of architectures, some of them uncommon. The new thoroughfare benefits from a 1902 regulation which authorizes greater architectural freedom in order to break with the uniformity of Haussmann streets and buildings. A competition organized by the municipality from 1898 onwards promised to reward the finest facades. Intended for industry, these buildings accommodated in the majority activities linked to the press and printing, clothing manufacture and wholesale trade. It is possible that Georges Chédanne (1861-1941), to whom this building was long attributed, having important building sites, more or less entrusted this less prestigious realization to a busy colleague. Whoever the author, he showed genius. The building was originally doubtless intended for fabric shops which needed strong flooring for their storage. Occupied by the headquarters of the daily newspaper Le Parisien Libéré between 1944 and 1973, it has retained its name and is commonly called Le Parisien. The structure of the construction in riveted metal beams appears fully on the facade. Thick horizontal beams separate the five first levels of elevation (only the fifth storey, in brick, and the sixth, arranged under the roof space, do not use metal), while slender vertical beams delimit the bays, subdivide themselves on the ground floor by elegant curves into two vertical lines (principle of ramification) and support the three bow-windows of the fourth storey. The strict grid of the facade by these vertical and horizontal lines is softened by the curves at the angles of the first level and those of the consoles of the bow-windows. The four first storeys are in projection relative to the ground floor where open three large glazed doors, the two lateral ones forming arcades. Perpendicular windows light the first and second storeys. On the third storey, the depressed arches of the openings are identical to those of the openings and the base of the bow-windows of the storey above. The fifth storey is constructed in brick, the sixth is under the roof space: both are reserved for residential use and are set back relative to the whole. The storeys do not have a defined plan in advance, the occupant being free to arrange the partitions as he wishes. The metal facade contrasts with its neighbours which do not display such boldness. The principle of exposed metal structure recalls the industrial constructions of the period (which experience their peak at the Universal Exposition of 1889), but is very rarely adopted for this type of building. It is one of the first times a multi-storey building with a genuine metal structure. The architect privileged here two objectives: to ensure maximum light to the workshops and to allow the floors to resist heavy loads. The cast steel structural element is grasped here in its plastic qualities, fifty years before the great constructions resulting from the School of Mies van der Rohe. The building is currently occupied by a France Télécom office; nothing recalls the previous occupation by Le Parisien Libéré.