Baron de Haussmann in the Second French Empire and the consolidation of the modern Parisian urban space, 1853-1869

Abstract

This article considers the city as a space affected by historical processes, specifically in the case of Paris, France, and the physical transformations it underwent during the Second French Empire headed by Napoleon III, between 1853 and 1869. By highlighting the figure of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine, as the main architect of these reforms that had an echo at national and international level in terms of urban planning, it is proposed that he can be considered one of the main representatives of urban sanitation. It also reflects on the role of this character in the history of architecture, analyzes the consequences that the Parisian restructuring brought about among the population of the French capital and, finally, emphasizes the social utility of control and surveillance hidden behind his urban project.