Building site, rue de Rivoli

An impressive apartment building worksite opened at the corner of rue de Rivoli and rue des Feuillants (now rue Rouget-de-l’Isle), the location of the former Ministry of Finance burnt down in the 1871 Paris Commune. Claude Salleron was the architect and Émile Desplanques the builder. Rigorous organisation of the workers' activity allowed the project to advance at a brisk pace. The use of steam power (produced by a locomobile), a railway and two cranes* ushered in modern building methods. The dressed stones for the façades were numbered, allowing them to be quickly assembled. They masked brick and iron, the most widely used materials. In 1880 Parliament voted a special credit allowing the museum to purchase this model, an accurate depiction of the building site.