Page 221 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace
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the north side to reach it (fig. 4). Whereas in many hotels, the rear   two side pavilions but no central one, as would be the norm (and   character; although it should be said that until recently, very few   designed by the architectural student Charles-Louis Girault
 courtyard is used for outhouses and generally receives little attention,  as is found, for example, in the Beau-Rivage building itself); the   have tried to understand and appreciate it. 32  for the Achille Leclère competition of 1878, which was widely
 here the space is well kept and attractive, with landscaped gardens   central pavilion is replaced by a narrow central bay in the form   Stepping back, the front view of the facade encourages us   copied by students at the end of the nineteenth century, notably
 and fountains to keep the pathway to the entrance shady and cool.  of a bay window, which is not at all monumental, and deflects the   to look at its context, which is the lakeside and Alpine landscape.  by Jost himself.  The sculpted figures surrounding the oculi of
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 The monumental Palace facades looking out over this green expanse   attention back onto the side pavilions. The design is characterised   The architecture literally faces the panorama full on, making it a   the dome were also of Parisian origin, less exuberant descendants
 have also been thoughtfully designed, with varying types of windows,  by an almost sinuous modulation of the wall’s surface, articulated   giant viewing gallery and suggesting to those not lucky enough   of Carpeaux’s Paris Opera nymphs. We must move on from these
 pediments, etc. The wing, which contains the public rooms, is a   by the side projections and the three bay windows at the centre   to be there that what is important lies elsewhere – opposite, in   opera deperdita to focus on the heart (or belly) of the hotel: the
 study of quiet composure, and demands particular attention because   of each of the building sections. Following the post-Haussmann   fact. Once again, a Manichean perception of the relationship to   dining room and the hall.
 of its large, arched bay windows whose bevelled panes refract the   architectural aesthetic popular at the time,  the facade is livelier   nature predominates: in its interplay of contrasts, the grandiose   Continuing on the journey we interrupted on the threshold
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 stained-glass  dome  and  the  chandelier  hanging  within.  Outside,  in its upper parts: the individual balconies become continuous, the   architecture of the Palace reminds us that without the natural   of  the  main  entrance  to  the  Beau-Rivage,  and  crossing  the
 sunlight plays on the foliage, while inside, it is possible to glimpse   difference in levels between the pavilion cornices and those of the   world which encases it (notably the wooded grounds) and frames   vertiginous atrium of 1861 (redecorated in 1909)  to reach the
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 the elegant lights of a room whose architecture and decor appear to   central wing simulate the effect of perspective, the garret windows   it (in the pictorial sense of the word), the building itself would   new part, we pass decorations and spaces of a quality unequalled
 be of exceptional quality: the path to the hotel assumes an almost   decrease in size ending the decrescendo of openings which   be meaningless. A variety of elements connect the Palace to its   by the other hotels of the region. The two rooms, separated by
 philosophical air, between nature and culture, between truth and   moves upwards from the ground floor to the roof. The facade   natural surroundings: the portico, terraces, stairs and balconies are   a central corridor (connecting the accommodation wings and
 artifice.  The original Beau-Rivage building of 1861 is striking for   thus finds an exceptionally clever balance between the vertical,   all intermediaries which, being neither inside nor truly outside,  saving guests from having to cross the dining room), represent the
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 the simplicity of its facades, which guide the eye towards the main   almost pyramid-shaped bays formed by the lower windows and   allow the guests to enjoy the scenery, air and climate while never   sum of Jost’s previous research on communal hotel areas. Whereas
 entrance – our ultimate destination – a narrow passageway and a   garret windows, and the discrete horizontal lines with their   being more than a few steps from a decorative ‘landscape’ that tells   before, he had often had to produce complex layout solutions for
 threshold between the outer world and the interior, whose glimpsed   syncopated rhythm.  A variety of details combine to animate   a completely different story.  irregular spaces, here he was limited only by the width set by the
 reflections have already aroused our curiosity.  the facade, such as the subtle fracture in the line of the cornice   two accommodation wings and the fixed height (equal to two
 If we take a brief look at the south facade before entering   created by the three garret windows of the side pavilions (the   THE ‘GRAND APARTMENTS’: A MASTERPIECE  storeys). The regular dimensions of the space allowed Jost to devise
 the building, we notice a completely different style of architecture,  central one being slightly wider and higher than its neighbours),   The central part of the hotel contains the two most important   a simple, clear floor plan based on a mathematical grid which
 creating  an  entirely  different  effect. Seen  from the  Quai  de   a fracture which reduces the impact of the horizontal line at this   public rooms, the hall and the dining room. These rooms can   determined a longitudinal axis (the corridor) and a transversal
 Belgique  (built  in  1901),  the  whole  complex  is  considerably   level and which emphasises the considerable difference in height   readily be compared with the ceremonial ‘grand apartments’ of royal   one (the central space of the dining room and hall). The remaining
 more understated, and the focus of attention is no longer the old   of the roofs; in the same way, the varying window forms (arched,   palaces, and seem to have been the work, if not the masterpiece, of   space was also an area of traffic, service and behind the scenes
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 Beau-Rivage building, which is barely visible through the trees   rectangular, oval) break the inherent monotony of this genre of   Eugène Jost and his partner Maurice Schnell.  While the relatively   which at once revealed and concealed. The prevailing theatrical
 in its grounds.  grand composition. It is a great shame that this clever order has   sober north facade is still visible today, sadly this is not the case with   principle used by Jost to design these rooms makes perfect sense
 Moving closer, the eye is drawn to the dome of the hall, both   been upset by the recent creation of wide bays (using masonry   the rotunda on the south side, now largely obscured by a circular   here: the effect created by guests flowing in from either side (since
 for its form and its elegant decoration; we will return to this subject   bands) on the pavilion roofs, entirely at odds with the Beaux Arts   veranda built in 1976; although the upper parts can still be seen,  the guest rooms were situated in both the Palace and the Beau-
 later. Walking away, however, we are most struck by the front view   aesthetic of the building. Similarly, the modification of the central   they lost their sculptural decoration on the same occasion. This   Rivage buildings) must have been impressive, a thronging crowd
 of the two accommodation wings, which create an almost solid   garret window in the middle section of the building (originally   is unfortunate: the original design orchestrated by the architects   rather than a formal procession of people. Jost must certainly have
 block, asymmetrical yet imposing, whose horizontal forms and   punctuated by two small Italian Renaissance-style arched bays)   was extremely rich in Renaissance and Baroque touches, and   been thinking of the great French architectural set pieces of the
 lines (windows aligned along running balconies, bands of masonry,  has deprived the facade of a ‘heavier’ counterpoint to the lighter   played with different techniques (architecture, sculpture, wrought   era, particularly the Paris Opera (again), with its grand staircase,
 cordons and cornices) are underlined by the quay and its stone   lateral sections, a counterpoint which also served to balance the   ironwork and woodwork) to achieve an elegance rarely matched   dividing visitors on either side of the stairwell, making them at
 wall, the garden railing and, to the west, the arcades surmounted   effect of the lower bay window which was too open to act as a   in Swiss hotel architecture of the period (figs. 5-9). There is no   once spectators and participants in their own performance. The
 by an entablature and a balustrade. The architectural composition   central motif. The architecture of the Palace is elegant, then, if   question that the architects made use of sketches brought back   two rooms corresponded with each other along the length of the
 of the Palace is unusual, as we have already pointed out: there are   slightly disturbed by interventions that do not truly understand its   from Paris: indeed, their project was very similar to the casino   corridor with their five arched bays, three of which were situated







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