M. and I really like to talk about Haussman and Napoléon. I’m quite sure everyone knows Napoléon, but Georges Eugène Haussman is not that famous – especially out of France. Georges Eugène Haussman was born in 1809, He has been prefect of  Seine – of Paris – in 1853, during Napoléon III’s reign, the French ruler of that time – who re-established the crown of France, after the French revolution. Alright, so what does that guy has to do with technology? Well Haussman is not only an avenue, as a prefect He has created a modern Paris. During the XIXth century, Paris was a middle-age town, with small, dark and tight streets, house made of wood and very poor areas. With modernity – and the industrial times – Paris had to evolve. Napoleon III realized that when He went to London in 1840s. Haussman was the one who would transform Paris as a modern city. To fight cholera and pest waves, but also to destroy dirty areas of Paris, Haussman ordered the destruction of many buildings, especially in the Marais area and between the current Rivoli and Opéra zones. Those destructions also were focusing on very poor areas, which Napoleon III thought very dangerous to his government. Haussman also created axes through Paris, long and large avenues and boulevards where horses and people could circulate without problems. He also invented the sidewalk, horses were very dangerous for people walking in the street, causing a lot of accidental deaths. Cars didn’t exist yet, but almost, Haussman thought that circulation was very important. He was an architect too, and was working with teams of architects. He set a new architectural standard which would be reproduced everywhere in his new avenues. Those new buildings were made for high classes – “haute bourgeoisie” – with very strict standards : owners living at the second or first floor, and the others at the bottom or the top of the building. Large entrances were thought to allow horses to rest in “courettes”. Haussman also thought about another big danger for big cities: fires. His buildings were in stone, were made with a strict and repetitive scale to allow firemen to access upper levels by scales, and had strong walls at their extremities to avoid fires to go from a building to another. Inspired by many architects and intellectuals, He also created  plazas and gardens all over Paris, and built the Parisian’s sewage system. What He created became an architectural style, “Haussmanian buildings”.  A tone of other innovations and accomplishments have been made during that time, a crazy crazy time!

The man has been criticized a lot, He destroyed huge parts of the ancient Paris and people were kicked out of their houses with low compensations. He was also a politician, a Napoléon III’s friend. But He was a visionary man and He created the modern Paris.