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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Guimard building of the Château d'Eau station is an access to the Paris metro, designed by architect Hector Guimard in 1900 for the Compagnie générale du Métropolitain de Paris. These wrought iron and glass structures, characteristic of the Art Nouveau style, mark the entrance to the station inaugurated in 1908 on line 4. Their innovative design, both functional and aesthetic, symbolizes the modernity of urban transport at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Château d'Eau station, located under the boulevard de Strasbourg, derives its name from the adjacent street, itself inherited from a historic square where was a monumental fountain (1811-1867) replaced by the fountain of Davioud, then by the Monument to the Republic. The station's two Guimard edicles, located at numbers 49 and 51 of the boulevard, were listed as historic monuments in 1978 for their heritage value, and their entourage was further protected in 2016.

The architecture of the edicles, with their organic forms and stylized plant motifs, reflects the influence of the Art Nouveau movement in Europe. Hector Guimard, master of these works, designed nearly 141 metro entrances between 1900 and 1913, of which only 86 remain today. These structures, initially criticized for their daring, have become icons of the Parisian heritage, illustrating the alliance between art and industrialization.

The station itself, of standard configuration with two platforms separated by the tracks, has been modernized over the decades. In 2019, its docks were upgraded for the installation of pallet doors as part of line 4 automation. Despite these technical developments, the Guimard edicles, with their glass windows and asymmetric curves, remain intact testimonies of the pioneering era of the Paris metro.

The historical context of the Place du Château d'Eau, which became the place of the Republic, adds a symbolic dimension to these edicles. This neighborhood, marked by major urban transformations in the 19th century, was a popular gathering place. The edicles, as part of the daily landscape, also reflect the growing importance of public transport in the lives of Parisians, facilitating travel in an expanding city.

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