The Lavirotte Building’s doorway at 29 Avenue Rapp in Paris is a celebrated Art Nouveau masterpiece renowned for its intricate design and provocative symbolism. Designed by architect Jules Lavirotte and completed in 1901, it combines technical innovation with artistic audacity, earning it the title of “most beautiful door in Paris” and sparking controversy in its time.
 
The doorway’s design includes subtle and overt sexual references. The wrought-iron lizards adorning the door were slang for male genitalia in Parisian argot, while the door’s shape was interpreted as an inverted phallic symbol or a representation of female anatomy. Sculptures of Adam and Eve flank the entrance, and bulls’ heads supporting the balcony further contribute to the sensual motifs