PARIS METRO

STATION ENTRANCE
LOCATION – PARIS,FRANCE
TIMELINE – 1899-1905
BUILDING TYPE – LIGHT RAIL RAPID TRANSIT
STATIONS.
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM – IRON & GLASS
CONTEXT – URBAN
STYLE – ART NOUVEAU
HECTOR GUIMARD
HECTOR GUIMARD

HECTOR GUIMARD(10 MARCH 1867-20 MAY 1942) WAS

A FRENCH ARCHITECT , WHO IS NOW THE BEST KNOWN
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ART NOUVEAU STYLE IN LATE
19 AND EARLY 20 CENTURY.
HE DEVELOPED HIS OWN FORM OF ART NOUVEAU,
ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE IDEA OF HARMONY AND
CONTINUITY, WHICH CAUSED HIM TO DESIGN THE
INTERIOR FURNISHINGS AND DECORATION OF HIS
BUILDINGS AS WELL.
 METRO STATION ENTRANCE
METRO ENTRANCES ARE DESIGNED FIRSTLY TO BE
VISIBLE AND RECOGNISABLE.
• GUIMARD DESIGNED THREE TYPES OF ENTRANCES
TO METRO STATIONS WITH AND WITHOUT GLASS
ROOFS.
• OPEN TYPE
• COVERED TYPE
• ENCLOSED TYPE
BUILT IN CAST IRON THEY MAKE REFERENCE TO THE
SYMBOLISM OF PLANTS AND ARE NOW CONSIDERED
CLASSICAL EXAMPLES OF FRENCH ART NOUVEAU.
141 ENTRANCES WERE CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN
1899 AND 1912, OF WHICH 86 STILL EXIST.
THE ROOF VARIETY KNOWN AS EDICULES(KIOSKS)
FEATURE A FAN SHAPED GLASS AWNING.
FEW FEATURE AN ENCLOSURE OF OPAQUE
PANELLING DECORATED IN FLORAL MOTIFS.
BEYOND THIS LOGISTICAL CONCERNS, CAST IRON
WAS ALSO FAR BETTER SUITED TO THE
SINUOUS,NATURALISTIC AND SLENDER CURVES
THAT EMBODY ART NOUVEAU.
USING A SET OF MODULAR STRUCTURAL
ELEMENTS, GUIMARD CREATED THREE ENTRANCE
TYPES, RANGING FROM SIMPLE RAILINGS TO LAVISH
COVERED PAVILIONS.
EACH STATION ENTRANCES SHADE THE SAME
GREEN PAINT(MEANT TO RESEMBLE BRONZE
PATINA) AND A SIGN BEARING THE WORD
METROPOLITAIN IN A TYPEFACE DESIGNED BY
GUIMARD HIMSELF.
THE SIMPLEST AND MOST COMMON VARIANT WAS
THE SET OF RAILINGS WITH A PAIR OF AMBER-
COLOURED LIGHT BULBS SHAPED LIKE FLOWER
BUDS, THEIR TINTED LIGHT ILLUMINATING THE
METROPOLITAIN SIGN MOUNTED BETWEEN THEM.
THE GREATEST SENSATION HOWEVER WAS IN
RESPONSE TO THE ELABORATE PAVILION
ENTRANCES, WITH THEIR FANNED GLASS AWNINGS,
CROWNING THE STAIRWAYS BENEATH.
THE GATES CURVILINEAR LINES AND PATTERNS
WERE INSPIRED BY WINES AND FLOWERS .
THANK
YOU