Oriental ou colonial ? Questions de styles dans les concours de l’École des beaux-arts au xixe siècle

The West became increasingly aware of the Mediterranean world from the 18th century, through the writings and travel sketches of writers, artists and architects, and then through the Description de l’Egypte following Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign (1798-1801).With the capture of Algiers in 1830, the Islamic world suddenly found itself much closer to the West, engaged in a dominant/dominated relationship. At first, engineers and then architects exported the French model, with varying degrees of ability. Poorly adapted to local climatic conditions, it was at the time highly symbolic of the claim that it brought edification to the colonised realms.Yet the quality and beauty of Arabic architecture, as well as the local life¬style, were strong enough to assert an influence in mainland France, where "bazaars" or "hammams" were also built. Even if these terms apply to architectural creations, whose meaning has changed from the original model, by using a more or less bohemian style of decor, the origins from which these terms were borrowed are not forgotten.The Ecole des beaux-arts theoretical competitions in architecture reflect, in a somewhat sanitized way, the architectural trends of the time. The first given subject of the school’s competition dealing with the East dates back to 1799: "a mosque", an astonishingly topical subject given the campaign taking place in Egypt at that time. From that moment right up until 1914, curricula and competition projects follow the emerging political, intellectual and aesthetic trends with a more or less consistent time gap. It was not until the early years of the 20th century that students started to produce drawings depicting a genuine sensitivity towards Eastern art. In construction, this knowledge was applied to the most disparate of buildings, government offices, railway stations, and even water towers...