The big-screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables opens in theaters tomorrow, and we couldn’t be more excited. Considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, the five-volume, 365-chapter tale is as much a meditation on the complex moral and social struggles of humanity as it is a historical study of France and the architecture and urban design of Paris. The tome was first published in 1862, just before the beginning of the beguiling Belle Époque, or beautiful era, France’s golden age of affluence and artistic creativity that occurred before the turmoil of the First World War. From the architectural wonders built for the same World’s Fair that gave us the Eiffel Tower to the most famous, elaborate Art Nouveau restaurant, click through to be reminded of the design epoch that gave us one of the world’s most whimsical and romantic cities.
The Trocadéro for the 1878 World’s Fair by Gabriel Davioud
Grand Entrance to the Exposition Universelle of 1889 by Binet Architects
Image credit: Trials and Errors
Galerie des machines for the Exposition Universelle of 1889 by Ferdinand Dutert and Victor Contamin
Image credit: Architecture and Society; Historia Del Artes; STUDY BLUE
Electric Sidewalks for Exposition Universelle
Image credit: Digital Archive of Architecture
Grand Palais for the World Fair of 1900 by Charles Girault
Image credit: Digital Archive of Architecture; Art Culture
Petit Palais for the World Fair of 1900 by Charles Girault
Image credit: Digital Archive of Architecture
The Greenhouse of the City of Paris
Image credit: Art
La Maîtrise Pavillon for Galeries Lafayette at the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in 1925
Image credit: Archhisdaily
Hôtel d’un Collectionneur for the Paris 1925 Exhibition by Pierre Patout
Image credit: Deco Architecture; Designer News
Maxim’s Restaurant
Image credit: My Paris Photos