The Opéra Nouvel, the Nouvel Opera House in Lyon, was named after the famous French architect, Jean Nouvel, who was commissioned to re-design the Lyon Theater c. 1831, originally designed by Antoine-Marie Chenavard and Jean-Marie Pollet. The idea of re-designing the building was not new to Lyon, as  an  early opera house, c. 1756, had also been created inside an existing freestanding building, the first project of its kind, designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot, the architect of the Panthéon in Paris. In 1985, the City decided to re-build the opera house, but this time, it would be a renovation inside the shell of the existing 1831 opera building. In reconfiguring the structure,  Jean Nouvel tripled the space within the Italian-designed house by adding a horse-shoe shaped auditorium and tiers of boxes, as well as excavating below ground to create rehearsal space. Only the existing foyer and the exterior façade of the 1831 building remained. Above the roof, Nouvel built a steel and glass barrel vault that hid the fly tower and provided space for the ballet company, an achievement considered to be an “architectural tour de force” successfully wedding the past to the future. The capacity of the Opéra Nouvel is 1,100 seats. Unfortunately, there were no performances scheduled during our visit; however, we did enjoy lunch in the Opéra Cafe to have a better sense of the building.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. Hôtel de Ville, facing the Opéra Nouvel. 2. View of Lyon from the terrace of the Opéra Nouvel. The domes of the Hôtel de Ville are directly opposite the opera. 3. Statuary representing the muses, inherited from the original 1831 façade.  Center, Top: Façade, Opéra Nouvel. Center, Bottom: Right Column: 1. Opéra Nouvel depicting Jean Nouvel’s horseshoe barrel vault design that doubled the size of the opera. 2. One of several lamps that hang beneath the portico of Opéra Nouvel, the Italianate façade of the original 1831 opera building.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE