HIGH AND ORNATE CEILINGS

High and ornate ceilings make me think of Paris, ooh la la. I love these airy, bright and white interiors. Especially combined with a “less-is-more” interior design, neutral colors and rich materials such as velvets, silks and bronzes. This lets the ornate mouldings and panelling play the starring role.

But what is the history of all this beauty? Well, most of these apartment buildings are the brainchild of visionair and architect Baron George Haussmann. He was appointed as Prefect of the Seine (that river running through Paris) by Napoleon III in 1853. During the Industrial Revolution Paris drew a lot of new inhabitants, overcrowding the ancient, medieval districts and spreading disease. Haussmann was tasked to bring order and structure to the chaotic and cramped city. He rigorously demolished whole neighbourhoods and designed a new cityplan with broad avenues and public parcs.

The new architecture was based on Neo-Classicism. After the melodramatic, flamboyant Barox era, followed by the decorative, frivole Rococo period, people were ready for the rational and more austere Neo-Classicism. Although this style was more simplistic, it stell left room for the fanciful and elegant plasterworks on ceilings and walls.