Orsay

The nineteenth century was an extraordinarily fertile period for French architecture. Public and private commissions poured in, virtually creating a modern Paris in about thirty years. International exhibitions inspired the most utopic projects, giving huge scope to aspiring architects. It was also the time of major excavations and the study of ancient buildings, notably those of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which fuelled the imagination of architects as well known as Viollet-le Duc, Duban, Lassus and Lefuel. The Musee D'Orsay gives as much emphasis to its architectural displays as it does to its paintings and sculpture. It houses nearly 18,000 examples of architectural planning in the form of models and drawings, the most prestigious being those for Eiffel and Guimard. This title, the first to be published on the architectural displays at Orsay and the next in the series of titles from Scala, presents 100 highlights of this extraordinary collection.