Haussmann Facades from a Paris Stone Parapet

5 October 2017 · Paris

A weathered stone parapet runs across the foreground, anchoring a view that Paris has offered from its bridges and elevated walks for a century and a half. Haussmann-era facades fill the middle distance — cream render, zinc rooftops, wrought iron balconies, the proportions so consistent they read almost as wallpaper. A plane tree pushes into the frame from below, its autumn canopy softening the geometry without hiding it. The overcast sky flattens the light evenly across everything, which is exactly what this kind of architecture asks for.