The author of the project and the person who supervised the construction was French architect Charles Garnier, who undertook the work at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III. The opera house was built in the “Napoleon III” style (Garnier is said to have described the style of the designed building in a conversation with Empress Eugenie).
The “Napoleon III” style, also known as the Second Empire style, was a strongly eclectic style, at the core of which was the inspiration of the styles of the previous period, especially the Renaissance, Louis XV, and Louis XVI, of Asian art.
