The opera house was the most
novel and creative building of
the Second Empire with an
exuberant neo-classical style
and a persistent baroque
character. Its architect,
Charles Garnier, and many of
its admirers saw in it a new,
imperial style. The structure
was the product of a
competition in 1861. The
winning architect did not need
to relate his design to any
nearby building since the
adjoining facades would be the
subject of a submissive
architectural ordinance. He
used a closed arcade of arches
at the entrance level and a
Corinthian colonnade of paired
columns above. The carved
decoration was the most exotic
ever seen in Paris. The massing
and volumes, inspired partly by
the requirements of a huge,
modern theater, and of the
vista up the Avenue de lâOp*ra,
supplemented by the architectâs
fantasies, were the main source
of novelty. As a building of
pleasure, visited solely by the
rich, the opera house
symbolized the life of the
imperial elite. This special
role helps to explain why
Garnierâs opera house had
little influence on the style
of public architecture in the
1860s.