For nearly two years, this case, with its many twists and turns, has pitted and involved several players: the National Assembly and its president Yaël Braun-Pivet, Paris City Hall and the association Sites & Monuments.
The project for the National Assembly's new visitor pavilion is far from winning unanimous support. Championed by the president of the institution, Yaël Braun-Pivet, it plans to replace the historic stone pavilion dating from 1888 with a contemporary glass structure. The future building is intended to house a shop, a cafeteria and educational spaces, functions which the association Sites & Monuments considers secondary for a parliament.
"The problem is that this building would break that symmetry and introduce materials on a large scale, namely glass", explains to Euronews Julien Lacaze, president of Sites & Monuments. He recalls that the project is due to be built within a Remarkable Heritage Site (SPR) in the 7th arrondissement, in an area listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In his view, the architectural project breaks the historic harmony of the Seine embankments on several levels: it destroys the symmetry between La Madeleine and the colonnade of the Palais-Bourbon, brings glass in on a massive scale to an ensemble dominated by stone, and undermines both the horizontality and the architectural unity of the site.
"What is most serious is demolishing a historic building. Once you have demolished something and built something that is not in harmony with a site, it is final. It is not reversible", laments the president of this association, founded in 1901, recognised as being of public benefit since 1936 and approved for environmental protection. Sites & Monuments specialises in the defence of heritage.
For the president of the association, other solutions that are more respectful of the building's original architecture exist and would deserve to be examined.
He cites in particular the project by the Japanese agency SANAA, winner of the Pritzker Prize, which proposed keeping the existing 1888 pavilion while adding a contemporary stone extension, rather than glass as in the selected project. In his view, this proposal would have met the functional needs of the Assembly without profoundly transforming the architectural landscape.
A construction cost deemed excessive
Beyond the aesthetic and historical stakes which Julien Lacaze believes are under threat, the project has also prompted criticism over its cost. The announced budget of 52.8 million euros seems too high to him in a context of budgetary constraints, all the more so as the bill could still rise during the works. Although the project will be self-financed by the National Assembly, he believes that : "This is French taxpayers' money. At a time when people are being asked to tighten their belts, spending 53 million euros on a building with a shop and a cafeteria raises questions."
Since the project was announced, the president of the association says he has identified several elements in the way the case has been handled which he considers problematic. According to him, no information on the progress of the project was made public for nearly a year after the competition. A first building permit was said to have been filed in contradiction with the Safeguarding and Enhancement Plan (PSMV) for the 7th arrondissement, in particular because of the excessive height of the building, its encroachment on protected spaces and the impact on historic gardens and courtyards.
Faced with the risk of legal challenges, the permit is said to have been withdrawn. According to him, the authorities then set about implementing a targeted amendment to the PSMV in order to make the project compatible with planning rules.
"It's a question of ego"
This architectural project has been championed by the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, since 2025.
Julien Lacaze accuses her of wanting to leave her mark on her term in office through architecture that is supposed to symbolise the transparency of the institution.
"What you can criticise [Yaël Braun-Pivet] for is not a lack of architectural culture. It is not listening."
Speaking to Franceinfo, the president of the National Assembly said she was "overwhelmed by criticism of a project people know nothing about".
In its campaign, the association Sites & Monuments has the backing of several political figures, particularly from Les Républicains (LR) and La France insoumise (LFI), as well as former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal.
The petition launched just over a year ago on the online petition platform Change.org has seen renewed interest in recent weeks. It was approaching 100,000 signatures at the time this article was published.
Contacted by Euronews, the National Assembly did not respond to our requests for comment.
For its part, Paris City Hall told us by email that "this project, which aims to modernise and strengthen conditions for welcoming the public to the Palais-Bourbon by increasing the space dedicated to it" must now "be the subject of a building permit application, which will be processed by the state, during which the City will be consulted in an advisory capacity".
"False," retorts the president of the association, who says, evidence in hand, that the City has already taken a position in favour of this project, since the Paris Council has approved the amendment to the Safeguarding and Enhancement Plan (PSMV), necessary to bring the project into line with planning rules.
"There was a vote by the City of Paris which approved the draft amendment (...) on 16 July," he says. According to him, the municipal majority has therefore clearly given its backing to the project.
"Emmanuel Grégoire has come out clearly in support of the project. Despite strong opposition, the City of Paris has given its approval."
According to Julien Lacaze, the project is also backed by part of the government, as he explains that the request to amend the PSMV came from the regional prefect and the Paris police prefect, which would mean, in his view, that the Ministry of Culture also supports the project.
"We will do everything that is legal. We have the right to launch petitions and we will challenge the permit in court," he says.
"If this building is constructed, it will be a sign of the lack of sensitivity, the stubbornness and the oversized egos of some of our leaders in Paris."
The association plans to continue collecting signatures for the petition, to take part in the public inquiry into the amendment of the PSMV and, finally, to file a legal challenge against the future building permit.
This text was translated with the help of artificial intelligence. Report a problem : [feedback-articles-en@euronews.com].
