2023-05-11 17:06:15
The National Commission for Architecture and Heritage gave a generally positive opinion on the proposed development. However, it calls for the abandonment of the concrete benches and the maintenance of the closing grids around the Square Jean XXIII.
The forty experts from the National Commission for Architecture and Heritage (CNPA), meeting in a conclave on Thursday morning, debated for a long time on the ultra-controversial project to repair the surroundings of Notre-Dame de Paris. After listening to the presentation made by the first deputy mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire – who, two days before had qualified in The JDD opponents of the liars project – they generally “approved” the project, while making recommendations. “What we were presented with is only a preliminary draft, but we felt it necessary to reaffirm that Square Jean XXIII should remain closed, for reasons of safety and preservation. Similarly, we asked that the street furniture, including the Davioud benches, be kept “, explains the senator Albéric de Montgolfier, president of the CNPA.
The landscape architect in charge of the renovation, Bas Smets, plans to grow an urban forest on the forecourt of Notre-Dame, to install changing rooms under the forecourt and to create openings on the Seine. Behind the cathedral, an urban promenade and a lawn would go to the tip of the island, towards the memorial of the Martyrs of the Deportation. “We listened to the explanations of the landscape architect Bas Smets, who was open. However, we felt that he was more a landscaper than an urban planner. “, testifies a historian member of the CNPA.
Although all the Commission’s experts did not agree on the advisability of developing reception areas for tourists in the basement, the group came together around the need to eventually open , a museum dedicated to Notre-Dame de Paris. If possible, in spaces of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, adjoining building and in full renovation. What the landscaper does not provide, but that Emmanuel Macron has called for, on several occasions.
The forecourt is designed as a clearing, which highlights the eastern facade of Notre-Dame in a green setting. The surrounding trees provide seats in the shade, while a fine sheet of water trickles occasionally over the forecourt to refresh the atmosphere in times of great heat, while creating ephemeral reflections. Studio Alma for the BBS Group
The opinion of the Commission, although advisory, is generally followed by effects. In all logic, the town hall of Paris should demand modifications from the landscaper it has chosen among four others. But Thursday morning’s approval, even with reservations, will seem weak to opponents of the project. For weeks, this subject has not ceased to arouse controversy. Critics focus on the project to redevelop Square Jean-XXIII – formerly known as the Jardin de l’Archevêché – and Square de l’Île-de-France, both located on the eastern tip of the Île de la Cité. Using photos published on social networks, the general public is invited to make a comparison between the existing situation and what the teams chosen by a jury are planning. Unstoppable! We see, on one side, a small square with flowers and protected by railings, and on the other, an architect’s view showing groups of tourists seated on a lawn. Arranged on the instructions of the prefect Rambuteau between 1837 and 1844, decorated the following year with a fountain of the Virgin in neo-Gothic style by the architect Alphonse Vigoureux, the square Jean-XXIII is picturesque, to the point of having served as a one of the scenes from the movie Midnight in Parisby Woody Allen in 2011. It has been closed since the 2019 fire. It neighbors the memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation, in principle conducive to silence and meditation. According to the views of the landscape architect, presented to the committee on Thursday morning, the historic furniture should also be partly replaced by contemporary furniture, gray and flat, which we see everywhere, in Paris or elsewhere.
Heritage area protected on one side, open and frequented on the other. ” This is the whole philosophy of the town hall of Paris, which prides itself on shared spaces, an unbridled nature is summarized here“explains Julien Lacaze, president of the Sites and Monuments association. What the architects Tangui Le Dantec and Dominique Dupré-Henry, co-founders of the association ” Citizens trees !» pick up in a formula that hits home: “It is the invasion of the Paris-beach syndrome in the development policy of Parisian public spaces. »By calling for the maintenance of closing gates, the commission seems to have heard them.
The project offers many points of view on the cathedral and a whole new relationship with the Seine. The opening of the quay retaining wall creates a direct connection with the reception area. Studio Alma for the BBS Group
This does not prevent opponents, including Stéphane Bern, from denouncing a “project without compass”and « gadget populist »and facilities“in search of meaning”. Sites and monuments has just signed, with ten other associations, an open letter to the President of the Republic, to the Minister of Culture, the mayor of Paris and the prefect of the Île-de-France region. “We ask you to urgently stop this projectthey write.And urgently request the organization of a meeting with all the institutions involved in the project”.
«These gardens with unique identities will be no more than a large uniform space, open, unobstructed and without charm. Trees will be removed or doomed to disappear. The perforation of the quay – no less than fourteen openings are planned on the Seine, thus destroying the chainings punctuating the Maurice Carême promenade – seems to us to be a completely unacceptable attack on the historic site, while blocked door and window frames remain on place and could be used“, they judge. This letter, dated May 9, comes in support of the petition “Save the squares of Notre-Dame“, which uses the same arguments and was signed, Thursday morning, by 44,000 people. We do not touch with impunity Notre-Dame, whose disastrous fate has aroused the excitement of the whole world.
After the opinion of the Commission and its possible consideration by the City of Paris, it will be the turn of the Architect of the buildings of France to give his opinion on a project which is still likely to change.
The underground car park has been transformed into an interior promenade which houses the reception program and offers new experiences to visitors: new relationships with the Cathedral, new access to the archaeological crypt and an opening onto the Seine. Thursday Wang for the BBS Group
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