Paul Sédille
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Paul Sédille (16 June 1836, Paris – 6 January 1900) was a French
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and theorist; and designed the 1880 reconstruction of the iconic Magasins du Printemps
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Life

Though Sédille is best known for his Printemps design, he was also associated with the Creusot family foundry and was very active in professional associations and architectural education in the 1880s. He wrote a number of compelling pieces of architectural criticism, especially his review of contemporary
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and
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architecture, and reflected what were by and large Teutonic theoretical concerns that have come to be understood as architectural realism, based on the works of Gottfried Semper. Directly related to his interest in Semper, Sédille was an advocate of highly-coloured
polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...
architecture. His participation in the
Universal Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
s of 1878 and 1889 in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
were demonstration pieces of his approach of integrating colorful
terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...
tilework and structural into the vocabulary of classical, beaux-arts architectural forms. Sédille made his mark as a private architect executing residential commissions during an age that celebrated heroic, civic works such as the
Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
(1860–1875) by Charles Garnier or the ''Palais de Justice'' (Paris, 1857–68) by Joseph-Louis Duc and Honoré Daumet.


Work

* renovation of the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, with interior work by sculptor Jules Dalou, Paris, 1880 * Basilique du Bois-Chenu,
Domrémy-la-Pucelle Domrémy-la-Pucelle (, ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. The village, originally named Domrémy, is the birthplace of Joan of Arc. It has since been renamed ''Domrémy-la-Pucelle'' after Joan's nickn ...
(origin of
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ;  – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
), begun 1881, consecrated 1896 * Printemps department store renovation, Paris, with sculptor Henri Chapu, 1883 * monument to industrialist Eugène Schneider, with sculptor Henri Chapu


Bibliography

* Sédille, Paul. "Rapport présenté par la commission chargée d'examiner une proposition de M. Paul Sédille relative aux récompenses à décerner par la société centrale des architectes," ''Bulletin mensuel de la société centrale des architectes'' (1873): 72-76. * Sédille, Paul. "Victor Baltard," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 2ème pér., 9 (1874): 485-496. * Sédille, Paul. "Rapport sur un brochure de M. Ruprich-Robert," ''Bulletin mensuel de la société centrale des architectes'' 4ème sér., 2 (1875): 43f. * Sédille, Paul. "Joseph Louis Duc, Architecte," ''Encyclopédie d'architecture'', 2ème sér., 8 (1879): 65-74. * Sédille, Paul. "L'architecture contemporaine et les industries d'art qui s'y rattachent," ''Bulletin mensuel de la société centrale des architectes'' 6ème sér., 2 (1885): 28-33. * Sédille, Paul. "Du rôle de la construction dans l'architecture," ''Encyclopédie d'architecture'', 3ème sér., 4 (1885): 73f. * Sédille, Paul. "L'architecture moderne à Vienne," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 2ème pér., 30 (1884): 122-44, 460-67, 481-91. Reprinted in: ''Bulletin mensuel de la société centrale des architectes'' 6ème sér., 2 (1885): 196-222. * Sédille, Paul. "Récompenses à l'architecture privée," ''Bulletin mensuel de la société centrale des architectes'' 6ème sér., 2 (1885): 411-18. Reprinted as: "Du rôle de la construction dans l'architecture," ''Encyclopédie d'architecture'' 3ème sér., 4 (1885): 73f. * Sédille, Paul. "L'architecture moderne en Angleterre," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 2ème pér., 33 (1886): 89-102, 194-208; 34 (1886): 89-106, 441-465; 35 (1887): 273-290. * Sédille, Paul. "Étude sur la renaissance de la polychromie monumentale en France," ''Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects'', n. s., 3 (1887): 5-16; with English translation, pp. 17–25. Also printed in: ''L'Architecture'' 1 (1888): 13-16, 37-40, 97-99. * Sédille, Paul. "Charles Garnier," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 3ème pér., 20 (1898): 341-346. * Sédille, Paul. "Basilique de Jeanne d'Arc, Domrémy. Construction de la flèche," ''L'architecture'' 12 (1899): 372-374.


See also

* List of works by Henri Chapu


References


English

* Berry, J. Duncan. "From Historicism to Architectural Realism: On Some of Wagner's Sources," in: Harry F. Mallgrave (ed.), ''Otto Wagner: Reflections on the Raiment of Modernity'' (Santa Monica, 1993): 242-278. * Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. ''Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'', 4th ed. (Harmondsworth, 1977), 384. * Mallgrave, Harry F. ''Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673-1968'' (Cambridge, 2005): 207. * Middleton, Robin D. "Paul Sédille," in: Adolf K. Placzek (éd.), ''The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects'' (New York, 1982), 4: 20-21.


French

* Bus, Charles du. "Deux aspects de l'art urbain," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 4ème pér., 12 (1914): 368-90. * ''Encyclopdédie d'architecture'', 3ème sér., 4 (1885): 1-35 + pls. 860f., 896f., 899, 919, 927f., 931, 941, 965, 981f., 992, 997f., 1004-6. * Hautecoeur, Louis. ''Histoire de l'architecture classique en France. La fin de l’architecture classique 1848-1900'' (Paris, 1957), vol. 7: 377, 413, 447. * Lafenestre, Georges. "Les magasins du Printemps réédifiés par M. Paul Sédille," ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', 2ème pér., 27 (1883): 239-53. * Lucas, Charles. Nécrologie: M. Paul Sédille," ''La construction moderne'' 15 (1900): 179-80. * Lucien, Étienne. "La vie et les ouvrages de Paul Sédille," ''L'Architecture'' 13 (1900): 305-8, 313-15. * Marrey, Bernard. ''Les grands magasins des origines à 1939'' (Paris, 1979): 97-109. * Sully-Proudhomme, René François Armand. "Paul Sédille," ''Revue de l'art ancient et moderne'' 9 (1901): 77-84, 149-60. * Sully-Proudhomme, René François Armand. ''Paul Sédille'' (Paris, 1902).


German

* Contag. "Der Neubau des 'Magasin au Printemps (sic)' in Paris," ''Deutsche Bauzeitung'' 20 (1886): 33f. * Hofmann, Albert. "Die französischen Architektur der Dritten Republik," ''Deutsche Bauzeitung'' 21 (1887), 38, 127. * ''Thieme-Becker'' 30: 422. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedille 1836 births 1900 deaths 19th-century French architects Architects from Paris Members of the Académie d'architecture