St Denis to Gaudi
An Architectural History Study Tour from Paris to Barcelona
From Paris to Barcelona, join Dr Steven Fleming for a thorough survey of a millennium of architectural history, from Gothic to 21st century post-modernism.
Begin in Paris, with the great Gothic cathedrals of St Denis, Notre-Dame in Paris and Notre-Dame in nearby Chartres. Over a full week in Paris follow the development of architecture through the French Renaissance, Enlightenment, Empire, 19th century avant-garde and 20th century modernism.
During a week in regional France, discover the rich heritage of the Romans in the Midi, the great Cluny Abbey and Tournus Cathedral in Burgundy, the architectural ensemble of Versailles, and modern and contemporary architecture in Lyon and Marseille.
No architectural study tour to France would be complete without getting to know and understand the great Le Corbusier, the pioneer of so much modern architecture. Visit and study his Villa Savoye, the Chapelle du Ronchamp and Unité d'Habitation and stay in his Convent of La Tourette.
Finish in the architecturally extraordinary city of Barcelona, featuring a Gothic heart juxtaposed with the flamboyant works of Gaudí and his contemporaries, and a wealth of 20th century masterpieces.
NB. This tour is exclusively for architecture students of the University of Newcastle.
St Denis Cathedral
ITINERARY:
Sat 09 June 2012: Depart Sydney
Afternoon departure from Sydney on Singapore Airlines flights to Paris (via Singapore). Overnight in flight.
Sun 10 June: Arrive Paris
Morning arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Make your way to your hotel.
Tour arrangements begin at 6 pm this evening with a welcome briefing followed by dinner.
(Meals included – D)
Mon 11 June: Paris
Begin your exploration of the ‘City of Light’ with a full-day devoted to the great Gothic monuments of Paris, beginning in the north of the city with a visit to the Cathedral of St Denis, begun in 1136 and not completed until the end of the 13th century. As well as being the burial site of French monarchs from the 10th century until 1789, St Denis is notable architecturally as it was the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally it heralded the change from Romanesque to Gothic architecture.
Continue to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris (completed 1345), considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularised in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.
Finish the day with a visit to Sainte-Chapelle (1239–1248). Commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom - the royal chapel is a prime example of the phase of Gothic architecture called ‘Rayonnant’, marked by its sense of weightlessness and strong vertical emphasis. The most famous features of the chapel are the great stained glass windows. (BL)
Tue 12 June: Paris
Continuing your study of Gothic architecture, depart Paris for a full day trip to nearby Chartres (90 km, approx 2 hr), to visit the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres, considered one of the finest examples of the French High Gothic style. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1193 and 1250, is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires - one, a 105-metre plain pyramid dating from the 1140s, and the other a 113-metre tall early 16th century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.
Late afternoon return to Paris. (BL)
Wed 13 June: Paris
Today you will explore the ‘Right Bank’ or the Parisian districts directly to the north of the River Seine. Begin at the Place des Vosges, built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612 and the oldest planned square in Paris. Continue via the grand 18th century monuments of the Louvre Palace, the Tuileries Gardens, the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806. Continue via the network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades known as the Grands Boulevards, the result of Baron Haussmann’s transformation of Paris under the Second Empire of Napoleon III. The morning will finish with a visit to the Palais Garnier, the grand theatre built by Charles Garnier from 1860 to 1875 for the Paris Opera.
After lunch visit the Reading Room of the National Library of France, built between 1862 and 1868 by the architect Henri Labrouste, and noted for its revolutionary use of iron frame construction within a neo-classical façade. Finish at I. M. Pei’s Louvre Pyramid (1989) which serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. Entrance to the Louvre Museum is included (museum open until 9.45 pm this evening). (BL)
Thu 14 June: Paris
Cross the River Seine to the ‘Left Bank’ of Paris. Begin with a visit to the Maison de Verre (‘House of Glass’) built from 1928 to 1932 in the early modern style of architecture. The design emphasised three primary traits: honesty of materials, variable transparency of forms, and juxtaposition of ‘industrial’ materials and fixtures with a more traditional style of home décor.
Next visit the Church of Saint-Sulpice, a large, Late Baroque parish known as the ‘Cathedral of the Left Bank’. Constructed between 1646–1745, the west front was designed by the Florentine architect Giovanni Servandoni until 1766. The north tower was built by Chalgrin in 1778-80, but construction was abandoned before the south tower was completed. During the Revolution, Saint-Sulpice was damaged and turned into a Temple of Victory. It was restored and redecorated in the 19th century with the help of Eugène Delacroix.
Walk through the Luxembourg gardens to the Panthéon (1758 – 1790). Originally built as a church, after many changes the Pantheon now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. It is an early example of neo-classicism, with a façade modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, surmounted by a dome that owes some of its character to Bramante's Tempietto.
After lunch, visit the Arab World Institute (1987), designed by Jean Nouvel. It combines the latest technology and techniques together with traditional Arab architecture. The southern façade is decorated with a translucent ornament of steel in the style of a moucharabieh panel featuring a geometric pattern made of 240 diaphragms opening or closing according to the sun.
Continue along the River Seine to the new National Library of France (1996), designed by the architect Dominique Perrault, distinguished with the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 1996. Finish the afternoon with a view (exterior) of the Eiffel Tower, built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, and a visit to the Musée d’Orsay, housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900 (museum open until 9.45 this evening). (BL)
Friday 15 June: Paris
Depart Paris for a full day tour to Versailles, located 20 km (approx 1 hr) southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved there from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.
During the day you will visit the elegant Palace of Versailles, the symbol of royal absolutism and embodiment of classical French art; the gardens which feature grand perspectives and water fountains; the Grand Trianon, which Louis XIV had erected in 1670 to escape the pomp and rigid formality of court life with his mistress Madame de Montespan; and the Petit Trianon, where Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI’s wife, could retire, away from the pomp of Versailles. (BL)
Sat 16 June: Paris
Journey out of Paris again to the suburb of Poissy (33 km, 1 hr) to the Villa Savoye, designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931. A manifesto of Le Corbusier's ‘five points’ of new architecture, the villa is one of the most easily recognisable and renowned examples of the International style.
Return to Paris via La Défense, a purpose-built business district, located beyond the arrondissements of central Paris at the start of the western outskirts of the city. La Défense is the site of the Grande Arche, one of Paris' most modern and imposing landmarks, situated at the western end of the grand axis formed by the Champs-Elysées, the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe.
Afternoon at leisure to further explore Paris on your own. (B)
Sun 17 June: Paris
Today is devoted to the new Parisian architecture of the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century. Begin at the Pompidou Centre (1977) designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, to house a vast public library, the Musée National d'Art Moderne and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. Continue to the Opéra Bastille (1989), designed by Carlos Ott and characterised by transparent façades and the use of identical materials for both the interiors and the exteriors.
To the north-east of Paris visit Parc de la Villette, designed by Bernard Tschumi and built from 1984 to 1987 on the site of the former Parisian abattoirs and the national wholesale meat market, as part of an vast urban redevelopment project. Return via the ‘new town’ of Marne-la-Vallée, 20 km east of Paris, created in 1972 to balance the Ile-de-France region development towards the East. Today Marne-la-Vallée has 87,000 inhabitants, a workforce of 40,000 jobs and 18,000 students enrolled in its major engineering schools and university. (BL)
Mon 18 June: Paris – Ronchamp
Depart Paris for the drive across France to Ronchamp (400 km, 5-6 hr including break for lunch).
On arrival in Ronchamp, visit the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut (1954), one of the finest examples of Le Corbusier’s late style and one of the most important examples of 20th-century religious architecture. The chapel is a simple design with two entrances, a main altar, and three chapels beneath towers. Although the building is small, it is powerful and complex.
Overnight in Ronchamp. (BD)
Tue 19 June: Ronchamp – Arc-et-Senans – Cluny
This morning drive from Ronchamp to Arc-et-Senans (130 km, 2.5 hr) to visit the Saline Royale (‘Royal Saltworks’) designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736–1806), a prominent Parisian architect. Its construction, begun in 1775 during the reign of Louis XVI, was the first major achievement of industrial architecture, reflecting the ideal of progress of the Enlightenment. The vast, semicircular complex was designed to permit a rational and hierarchical organization of work and was to have been followed by the building of an ideal city, a project that was never realized.
After a break for lunch, continue to Cluny (175 km, approx 2.5 hr). (BD)
Wed 20 June: Cluny
This morning you will visit the ruins of the Abbey of Cluny, the centre of a major monastic movement in the Middle Ages. In 1088, construction began on the third abbey church at Cluny (‘Cluny III’), the one that still stands in part today. Financed by kings, for centuries it was the largest church in Christendom. In 1095, five altars were consecrated by Pope Urban II, and in 1130, the abbey was dedicated by Pope Innocent II. Construction of the ante church continued until 1190. At the height of its influence in the 12th century, Cluny was at the head of a monastic ‘empire’ of 10,000 monks. The abbots of Cluny were almost as powerful as popes, and four of them later became popes. In 1098, Pope Urban II, himself a Cluniac, declared that Cluny was the "light of the world."
Its church was the largest Christian building in the world until St Peter's Basilica was rebuilt in Rome in the 16th century. Today, one transept of the 12th-century abbey church remains, along with 15th-century abbots' residences and 18th-century convent buildings. The site also includes pleasant gardens and a museum with Romanesque artefacts.
Afternoon at leisure to enjoy the charming smaller rural town of Cluny set in the rich, bucolic countryside of Burgundy. (BD)
Thu 21 June: Cluny - Eveux
Depart Cluny for nearby Tournus (61 km, approx 1 hr). Morning visit to the church of St Philibert (constructed 950-1120), one of the earliest and most influential Romanesque buildings in France.
After a break for lunch, continue to Eveux near Lyon (108 km, approx 2 hr), for dinner and overnight at the Convent de La Tourette, designed by Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis and constructed between 1956 and 1960 for the Dominican Order of Sainte Marie de La Tourette. Built of rough reinforced concrete as a chapel, residence and place of learning for Dominican friars, the monastery groups around a central courtyard a U-shaped mass, and the court is closed off by the chapel at the end. (BD)
Fri 22 June: Eveux - Nîmes
After breakfast, drive from La Tourette to Lyon (28 km, approx 1 hr).
Begin with a walking tour through the Old Town, one of the largest Renaissance quarters in Europe. Finish at the Opéra Nouvel, named in honour of the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel who re-designed the original 19th century opera house between 1985 and 1993. Leaving only the existing foyer and the exterior façade, Nouvel tripled the space within the house by excavating below ground to create rehearsal space and by doubling the height of the building by creating a steel and glass barrel vault which hid the fly tower as well as providing space for the ballet company.
Elsewhere in Lyon, see the extraordinary Le Cube Orange designed by Jakob + MacFarlane. The strong iconic character of this office building and designer showroom is given by the monolithic form and the orange perforated steel plates with different and irregular holes which cover the building. A second cube in green colour and with two holes will be built next to the orange cube in 2013.
After a break for lunch, continue to Nîmes in the south of France (250 km, approx 3.5 hr). (BD)
Sat 23 June: Nîmes
Today you will discover France’s rich Roman heritage, in and around Nîmes.
Begin at the Arena of Nîmes, a Roman amphitheatre built around 70 AD and remodelled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. Today it hosts other public events. Continue to the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple built c.16 BC but rededicated as a Christian church in the 4th century, saving it from the widespread destruction of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as Rome's official state religion. Across the main square sits the Carré d'Art, built in 1993 by British architect Norman Foster to become Nîmes media library and museum of contemporary art. In spite of its size, this box of glass, aluminium and concrete sits modestly among the ancient roofs of Nîmes, its slender portico echoing that of the Roman temple opposite.
In the afternoon, journey out of Nîmes to the Pont du Gard, the notable 1st century AD ancient Roman aqueduct bridge across the Gard River and part of a 50 km-long aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes in the South of France. It is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and is the best preserved after the Aqueduct of Segovia. (BL)
Sun 24 June: Nîmes – Marseille - Nîmes
Enjoy a full day to the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, distinguished architecturally by Le Corbusier’s Unité d'Habitation, the first large scale project for the architect. In 1947, Europe was still feeling the effects of the Second World War, when Le Corbusier was commissioned to design a multi-family residential housing project for the people of Marseille that were dislocated after the bombings on France. Completed in 1952, the Unite d’ Habitation was the first of a new housing project series for Le Corbusier that focused on communal living for all the inhabitants to shop, play, live, and come together in a ‘vertical garden city’.
Once much maligned, Marseille is in the throes of an unprecedented building boom and urban regeneration programme. During the afternoon, see some of the works under construction by some of the world's leading contemporary architects, such as the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Rudy Ricciotti), the Quai d’Arenc silo (Eric Castaldi), the CMA CGM Tower (Zaha Hadid), the Quais d’Arenc (Jean Nouvel), the Euromed Center (Massimilian Fuksas) and the renovation of the Old Port being led by Norman Foster’s architectural firm. (BL)
Mon 25 June: Nîmes – Barcelona
Depart Nîmes for a day’s drive across the south of France to Barcelona (390 km, approx 5-6 hr, including breaks). (BD)
Tue 26 June: Barcelona
Your exploration of Barcelona will begin with a walking tour that will take you into the heart of the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter), where much of the city’s historic architecture is contained within a few blocks, including the Cathedral, the Palau de la Generalitat and the Casa de la Ciutat. Despite several changes in the 19th and early 20th century, many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona. El Call, the medieval Jewish quarter, is located within this area too.
In the afternoon, by coach, discover the many, varied aspects of Greater Barcelona, beginning with the Eixample district, characterised by long straight streets, a strict grid pattern crossed by wide avenues, and square blocks with chamfered corners. This visionary, pioneering design developed in the second half of the 19th century by Ildefons Cerdà is considered to be one of the first examples of modern urban planning.
Drive up to the hill of Montjuic featuring a large number of sights and attractions, most of them originating from two major events that took place here: the 1929 International Exhibition and the 1992 Olympics. Visit the ‘Barcelona Pavilion’, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as the German pavilion for the 1929 International Exhibition and the Joan Miró Foundation, designed by Josep Lluís Sert as a museum of modern art honoring Spanish artist Joan Miró.
Finish with an overview of the venues and town planning, much of it controversial, built for the 1992 Olympics and 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures. (BL)
Wed 27 June: Barcelona
Today you will discover the imaginative architecture of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and his Catalan modernist contemporaries who flourished in the early 20th century.
Begin with a visit to the Palau de la Musica Catalana (1908) by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, an exuberant steel-framed concert hall full of light and space, and richly decorated by many of the leading designers of the day. Continue to the ‘mansana de la discòrdia’ (‘block of discord’) in the Eixample district, which contains the Casa Amatller (by Josep Puig i Cadafalch 1900), Casa Batlló (remodelled by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujo 1906) and Casa Lleó Morera (remodelled by Lluís Domènech i Montaner 1902). Finish the morning with a visit to Casa Milà (1912), better known as ‘La Pedrera’ (‘The Quarry’) the largest civil building designed by Gaudí. The apartment block was constructed between 1906 and 1910 and was Gaudí's last work before devoting himself to the construction of the Sagrada Familia.
After lunch, visit Gaudí’s greatest work, the massive unfinished Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. Though construction of Sagrada Familia had commenced in 1882, Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and catenary forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Familia's construction has progressed slowly as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War - only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the mid-point in 2010 with an anticipated completion date of 2026 - the centennial of Gaudí's death.
Finish in Park Güell, a garden complex and entertainment complex with architectural elements designed by Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. (BL)
Thu 28 June: Barcelona
Enjoy a day at leisure to further explore Barcelona on your own.
Tonight, celebrate the conclusion of the tour with a special farewell dinner. (BD)
Fri 29 June: Depart Barcelona
Morning departure from Barcelona on Singapore Airlines (via Milan and Singapore). (B)
Sat 30 June: Arrive Sydney
Evening arrival in Sydney.
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