What Happened to Haussmann
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"What Happened to Haussmann" (1942) is an illustrated article written by Robert Moses dealing with the Haussmannization of Paris.
It was published in Architectural Forum 77 (July 1942).
It features the Honoré Daumier cartoon "Come on bourgeois, get up quick. It's your turn, I have to tear down your house" (Le Charivari, December, 1852.
Incipit:
"An American builder of today looks back at a Parisian predecessor and draws some conclusions for post-war rebuilding of cities. Author of the unified park system of the slate and city of New York, Robert Moses speaks with admiration of the great Baron who rebuilt Paris."
Ending lines:
"Finally, it should be noted that, in spite of his eccentricities, Haussmann lasted seventeen years a'shead of the public works in Paris, and that this period was long enough to enable him to carry out a program which is the more astonishing as we realize how far he was in advance of his time, how great were the obstacles which he faced, and how boldly he faced them. The Paris of Haussmann has had a charmed life. It survived almost unscathed the humiliation of 1870. Joffre and his taxicabs saved it in 1914, and as an open city it overawed Hitler's sightseeing goose-steppers in 1940. Its spirit for the moment is dead, but physically the old Baron would be at home in it today and could confidently predict its revival III the future."
