Le Louxor cinema in Paris is "an art deco fantasy straight out of Egypt"

Continuing our Art Deco Centenary series, we take a look at Paris's Le Louxor movie theatre, a trove of Egyptian revival in the birthplace of cinema.

Le Louxor opened in Paris's 10th arrondissement in 1921, predating a wave of "Egyptomania" that would sweep the globe when Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in the following year and became a recurring theme of art deco architecture.

A rare survivor among pre-war cinemas in France, it is adorned with ancient Egyptian motifs on both its interior and granite exterior, which were restored to full art deco splendour in 2013.

Situated in the Parisian neighbourhood of Barbès, New York Times writer Elaine Sciolino described Le Louxor as "an art deco fantasy straight out of Egypt" when it reopened after the restoration.

Le Louxor embodies the luxury and opulence of the art deco movement, which was prevalent in the 1920s and 30s.

The movement coincided with advancements in cinema technology that fueled the popularity of films and the building of cinemas around the world.

Early motion pictures were commonly just a few minutes long and would often be screened at fairgrounds and music halls, but as the length of movies increased to features in the early 20th century, there was a need for purpose-built venues with comfortable seating.

The exuberant design tendencies of art deco were the perfect companion for this new form of entertainment, facilitating a wave of lavish "picture palaces".

But due to neglect over the last century, many such buildings fell into disrepair and were lost. Thanks to its restoration efforts, Le Louxor remains a unique treasure of art deco movie theatres, although its story is not without hardship.

France has a significant history with both film and art deco.

The Éden Théâtre in La Ciotat, southern France, claims to be the world's oldest purpose-built cinema – completed in 1889, it is still in operation today.

Paris is also widely considered to be the birthplace of cinema, as brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière used their invention, the Cinematograph, to project the first movie to a paying audience in the city in 1895.

As for art deco, the influential style was introduced to the world through the 1925 "arts décoratifs et industriels modernes" exhibition in Paris, in which more than 20 countries participated.

While Paris has numerous examples of art deco cinemas and performance venues, including the more famous Le Grand Rex, Le Louxor is one of the earliest and is set apart for its neo-Egyptian decoration that adorns the interior and exterior.

Named after the Egyptian city of Luxor, the cinema is covered in colourful mosaics, Sphinx statues, motifs of winged solar discs, tropical plants and animals such as cobras and scarabs.

It was designed by architect Henri Zipcy, who was born in Constantinople – now called Istanbul – and moved to Paris to complete his architecture studies.

The interior, including a cinema theatre with two balconies and walls punctuated with pharaoh sculptures, was designed by Amédée Tiberti.

Egyptian revival became a popular aesthetic theme across many art deco fields, including jewellery design, fashion and furniture.

In architecture, the Chrysler Building is one of the most famous art deco buildings to showcase Egyptian influences, with the crown of the skyscraper decorated in radiating sunburst patterns and lotus flower motifs on the elevator doors.

Many attribute this rise in interest in ancient Egypt, or "Egyptomania", to the discovery of the tomb of Pharoah Tutankhamun on 4 November 1922. The extravagance and beauty of the artefacts found in the tomb married well with the luxurious nature of the art deco movement.

But Zipcy and Tiberti's Le Louxor was completed and opened to the public on 6 October 1921, more than a year before the discovery.

On its official website, Le Louxor says Tiberti was influenced by Egyptian antiquities in the Musée du Louvre, while others speculate the 1917 film Cleopatra was a source of inspiration.

The cinema remained a popular venue into the 1940s, but following the second world war and the rise in televisions in homes, Le Louxor faced a significant decline in patronage.

Screening facilities were updated in 1954 and 1964 and the building was listed as a heritage site in 1981, but despite its attempts to adapt, the cinema closed in 1983, when it was sold and subsequently transformed into a nightclub.

The venue hosted two nightclub ventures before being abandoned in 1988, but admiration for the building remained.

Local neighbourhood groups, including Action Barbès, began mobilising to preserve Le Louxor in 2001, and the City of Paris purchased the building in 2003.

Local architect Philippe Pumain was appointed to lead the renewal project, which included restoring the facades and cinema theatre room as well as creating an exhibition space, a bar with an outdoor terrace and two new screening rooms in the basement.

Egyptian decorations in the main cinema theatre were entirely reproduced to the original designs, including the original screen and surrounding ornate frame. While usually covered by a modern cinema screen, Le Louxor unveils the reproduced 1921 screen for the projection of silent movies.

The building's external facades were restored and some features reproduced by heritage architect Christian Laporte, including mosaics, painted frieze, stucco decorations over the entrance, ironwork and stained glass.

Aiming to embody the ancient Egyptian riches of the original cinema, one of the basement screening rooms was lined with gold columns, designed in reference to the tombs of the Valley of the Kings near Luxor.

The other screening room features a vaulted ceiling with walls covered in red velvet.

Since its reopening in 2013, Le Louxor has returned to its full glory, with its Egyptian art deco treasures on full display to the public.

It serves as a time capsule in modern-day Paris, transporting its visitors back to a period of cinema celebration and art deco glamour.

The photography is by Anthony Rauchen unless stated.

Art Deco Centenary

This article is part of Dezeen's Art Deco Centenary series, which explores art deco architecture and design 100 years on from the "arts décoratifs" exposition in Paris that later gave the style its name.

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