Report about Bibliotheque sainte-Genevieve written by the group.

1. Bilkent University / Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
ADA 264 History of Built Environment / Section 07
Spring 2017
Instructor : Kumru Arapgirlioğlu
Student : ---, Serra Koz
Assignment 1
Reading 1: the 18th
and the 19th
centuries
Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve, Paris
by Henri Labrouste

2. Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 1854-1875. View of the reading room. ©
Georges Fessy
Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve
a n a l y s i s
Henri Labrouste is a French architect born May 11, 1801 and died June 24, 1875. His
most famous works are libraries and is said to be the “The Inventor of Modern Library”.
His experiments with new materials and light, as well as his utopian ideals, had a profound
impact on not just 19th-century architecture but also intellectual life and thought. Before
he started working with libraries, they were private places in residences, monasteries or
educational buildings where passersby could not enter. When he designed the Saint -
Genevieve Library and later on Bibliothèque Nationale he had to think from the
beginning. He did not invented the library but also he was the first to think what happens
when you open the doors of the library to the public-how to create a place that's large
and open but where you can go and concentrate and be by yourself. Also he was awarded
by the French government with the prize de Rome.
St. Genevieve library is the first masterpiece of him. Located in Paris, France very
close to Palace du Panthéon (10 Place du Panthéon, 75005 Paris, France). It was designed
in 1843 and built from 1845 to 1851. It was very famous by the time because was the first
public building to have a real exposed structural iron frame. It was very “game changing”
because metallic structures were considered as unsuitable to be used as classical and
medieval were not adequate for metallic usage (except for decorative details like
balustrades or ornamental hardware). Even though metallic structures had many
advantages as they were simpler to build, stronger and also could be prefabricated.
The St. Geneviève Library is a combination of Neo-Renaissance and rationalist
architecture. The first can be spotted through its composition and decorative details while

3. the second by the refreshing expression of internal organization and function in the design
of the façades. It is a two story rectangular building 85 by 21 meters following a simple
architectural program where a section ground floor houses library stacks and rare book
storage areas beside a central lobby. Then stairs lead to a major reading room occupying
all the upper story. The major space has forty-six huge high-level, arched windows where
nineteen are at each long side and four at each end.
Bibliothèque Sainte‐Geneviève, Paris, 1838‐1850. View of the reading room. Photo: Michel Nguyen ©
Bibliothèque Sainte‐Geneviève/Michel Nguyen
In the middle, across its width, it is divided by a central spine of elegantly slender cast-iron
Ionic (Greek) columns standing on short pears. The columns, braced longitudinally with
filigree arches, support decorative openwork cast-iron round arches, carefully designed by
Labrouste. The transverse arches in turn directly carry barrel vaults formed by plaster
reinforced by iron mesh on a network of joists. Originally a flat ceiling had been intended,
but Labrouste’s inventiveness and the flexibility of the General Council of Civil Buildings
made possible, after prototypes were built and tested, this first and beautiful expression of
an iron structure in “serious” architecture. However, it would be a long time before the
architectural profession came to terms with the new material.

4. Steel trusses of the reading room at the Bibliothèque Sainte‐Geneviève. Photo: © Priscille Leroy
Characteristics of this building is that it has monumental long vaulted reading room
and iron arches and columns support roof independently of masonry walls, that’s why it is
said that it the library reinvented. This was the combination that made the difference in
Laubrustes design. Labrouste's architecture pushed the capabilities of materials and
building technologies.
Besides the frustration in the light in the reading main room, library’s façade
icorporate Renaissance elements, such as the virtual arcade of almost continuous windows
on the upper level. The narrowness of the pilasters between them indicates the iron
columns within and contrasts with the massive masonry piers that define the corners of the
structure. A frieze of swags below the prominent string course that marks the upper floor
level is almost the only applied decoration. Initially, Labrouste proposed a garden along
the place du Panthéon façade “to distance the noise of the public thoroughfare” and
prepare visitors to his library “for due reverence.” Lack of space prevented its realization.
When designed the architect apparently did not take in consideration that more space
would be needed in the future so in the library there is insufficient space. However, later other

5. renovations were made. In 1930 the main reading room was redisposed and the number of seats
was increased from 400 to 700. In 1954 a small extension was build and in 1961 a larger one was
built. However the library does not sit well with other buildings on the site but its design made it
possible to quickly add public spaces, offices, stores etc.
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris: ground floor plan Architect: Labrouste Source: Handbuch der
Architektur 1893
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris: floor plan Architect: Labrouste Source: Handbuch der Architektur 1893

6. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
in Paris: elevation Architect:
Labrouste Source: Handbuch
der Architektur, 1893
Sources:
“A Soaring Space for Artifacts and Ideas” The Wall Street Journal, 26 Apr.
2013. www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324000704578388941024908244 Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.
“Bibliotheque Ste. Genevieve by Henri Labrouste at GreatBuildings” GreatBuildings. Retrived
from:www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Biblio_Ste_Genevieve.html Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.
“Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, France, Building” Celsus: A Library Architecture Resource - Bibliotheque
Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, France, Building. libraryarchitecture.wikispaces.com/Bibliotheque+Sainte-
Genevieve,+Paris,+France,+Building Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.
Drum, Josef, Eduard Schmitt, and Hermann Ende. Handbuch der Architektur. Stuttgart: A. Bergstrasser, 1905. Print.
“Henri Labrouste” Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 May 2010. www.global.britannica.com/biography/Henri-
LabrousteAccessed 23 Feb. 2017.
“Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Life” ArchDaily. 2 Feb. 2013. www.archdaily.com/317195/henri-labrouste-
structure-brought-to-life Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.
“Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light | MoMA” The Museum of Modern
Art. www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1295?locale=en Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.
Kostof, Spiro, Greg Castillo, and Richard Tobias. A History of architecture: setting and rituals. New York: Oxford U
Press, 1995. Print.
Labrouste, Henri, Corinne Bélier, Barry Bergdoll, Cœur M. Le, and Martin Bressani. Henri Labrouste: Structure
Brought to Light. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2012. Print.
Roth, Leland M. Understanding Architecture, Its Elements, History and Meaning. Second ed. Colaorado: Westview,
2007. Print.