The French architect who designed the Art Nouveau apartment building at 29 Avenue Rapp in Paris was Jules Lavirotte.
Known as the Lavirotte Building, the apartment block stands in Paris’s 7th arrondissement and was constructed between 1899 and 1901. Its extraordinary façade combines sculpted stone, glazed ceramic tiles, irregular windows, and elaborate ironwork, making it one of the city’s most recognizable Art Nouveau buildings.
Lavirotte collaborated with the ceramic manufacturer Alexandre Bigot, whose colorful architectural ceramics helped give the building its highly textured appearance. The sculptural decoration was produced by several artists, including Théobald-Joseph Sporrer and Jean-François Larrivé.
A common mix-up is to associate the building with Hector Guimard, another celebrated Parisian Art Nouveau architect. Guimard designed works such as Castel Béranger and the famous Métro entrances, but 29 Avenue Rapp is specifically Lavirotte’s work. The façade won Paris’s competition for the city’s most original new façade in 1901.