Opera Bastille

From Paris Hotels Reviews

Opera Bastille

The Bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989 was marked by the inauguration of a new open house on place de la Bastille, the Opéra Bastille (for information on performances see p.379), one of Francois Mitterand's pet projects. Filling almost the entire block between rues de Lyon, Charenton and Moreau, it has shfted the focus of place de la Bastille, so that the column is no longer the pivotal point; in fact, it's easy to miss it altogether when dazzled by the night-time glare of lights emanating from the Opéra . One critic described it as a "hippopotamus in a bathtub", and you can see his point. The architect, Uruguyan Carlos Ott, was concerned that his design should not bring an overbearing monumentalism to place de la Bastille. The different depths and layers of the semicircular facade do give a certain sense of the building stepping back, b ut sel-effacing it is not. With time, use and familiarity, Parisians seem to have become reconciled to it, and people happily sit on its steps, wander into its shops and libraries, and camp out all night for the free performance on July 14.