Early 19th Century Architecture in Europe: The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève of Henri Labrouste

The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Henri Labrouste, (Paris, France); 1843-1850; Early 19^th Century Architecture in Europe

Among the most extraordinary spatial creations in European architecture, Henri Labrouste’s libraries are one of the few that marked a turning point for the era, and have been touchstones for library design ever since.

Labrouste sought to create an immersive environment of study and reflection in the midst of the city. The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève was admired as much for its efficient solutions to the issues of nascent library science—including layout, flow of readers and books, and space and light-, but also for its role of knowledge and information in modern society.

The Library

The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève is the first self-contained public library fitted out within an ornate structure. Its facades are mainly decorated with a seemingly endless list of names, forming a catalog of writers and leaders in all domains of intellectual pursuit. The inscribed names clearly display the purpose of the structure in making writing itself a means of public ornament on the great plaza of Sainte-Geneviève. Inside, the abundant use of industrial materials, the quality of the inner spaces and interior decoration, and the use of gas lighting (making the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève the first library that could admit readers in the evening), were revolutionary achievements at the time.

The Architect

Henri Labrouste (1801-1875) was one of the most famous Romantic French Rationalist architects of the 19^th century, best known for his early use of iron frame construction. His buildings were revolutionary as he explored and combined new materials such as iron and cast iron with light and meaningful decorative details.

Labrouste studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1819, won the Prix de Rome for architecture in 1824, and after having spent five years (1825-1830) in Italy, he opened a studio in Paris.

Labrouste is primarily remembered for the two Parisian libraries he designed: the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, still admired today for the attractiveness and restraint of its decoration and for exposing iron structural elements; and for his second library project, the reading room (1860–67) of the Bibliothèque Nationale. Labrouste’s explorations of architecture for collective purposes are also seen in a small number of lesser known but influential buildings, such as the seminary of Rennes (1854—1875).

Ideals

Henri Labrouste advocated for buildings to portray their individual assets instead of an ideal. He wanted to stretch standard notions of décor, free to use classical forms in a non-classical way.  He designed based at three main categories:

-time and place it was built

-the function that it served
-relationship with gravity and light

Sources

Bressani, M., & Grignon, M. (2005). Henri Labrouste and the lure of the real: romanticism, rationalism and the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Art History, 28(5), 712-751.

Brownlee, D. B. (2013). Henri Labrouste: structure brought to light. Journal Of The Society Of Architectural Historians, 72(4), 601-603.