-
- 1. The Pavillon des Sources, designed by architect Henri-Paul Nénot (1853-1934), surrounded by construction site barriers in preparation for its demolition (21/12/23)
Photo: forwarded by Baptiste Gianeselli - See the image in its page
At a recent meeting of the Paris City Council, Emmanuel Grégoire dared to make the following statement about the Pavillon des Sources threatened with imminent destruction (ill. 1): "Marie Curie never worked there, never, never". Once again, as is his wont, Emmanuel Grégoire is talking nonsense. Baptiste Gianeselli, a very active defender of Parisian heritage on a number of issues (the Place de la Concorde, the Rotonde de la Villette, the Notre-Dame area, etc.), particularly on social networks, has demonstrated through numerous tweets that Marie Curie obviously worked in this building, as we shall see later. Admittedly, this wasn’t very hard to document, and even Emmanuel Grégoire could have done it (but the facts don’t really enter into his political thinking).
The first deputy mayor of Paris, supported by Karen Taïeb, deputy mayor for heritage (who normally has a very beneficial role to play), also asserts that the project is that of the Institut Curie. If this is true, they are thus implying that the City is powerless. But, the City could do a great deal to save this pavilion, an essential memorial to the history of science and to the life of France’s greatest scientist: it could refuse the demolition permit and apply to have the building protected as a historic monument, something that should have been done a long time ago. She had another opportunity to do so at this Paris Council meeting when she voted in favour of the vow submitted by the municipal opposition for the municipality to support the application for "classement". Even so, Emmanuel Grégoire refused to do so, going so far as to claim that the motion was ridiculous and hiding behind false arguments to support the demolition.
He circulated a press release from the Institut Curie, multiplying false or approximate assertions, which Baptiste Gianeselli brilliantly demonstrated on Twitter:
– Marie Curie never worked in the Pavillon des Sources? It’s not true, and the information comes in particular from the Institut Curie website.
– The Institut Curie website states: "Marie Curie’s laboratory is not destined for destruction". This is false because, as the Institut Curie website also confirms, the Curie Laboratory was composed of the Pavillon Curie and the Pavillon des Sources. There were in fact several laboratories, one of which was in the Pavillon des Sources,
- "The most emblematic place in Marie Curie’s scientific history [...] has been destroyed". It’s true that the hangar where she discovered radium was destroyed in 1914, but this should reinforce the need to protect what remains.
- "The garden is not under threat". We’d like someone to explain to us how the major works that are going to be carried out are going to spare the lime trees planted by Marie Curie right next to the pavilion.
- the project allows the "maintenance of the trees along the rue d’Ulm". This is false, as stated by the expert commissioned by the Institut Curie.
We advise our readers to read Baptiste Gianeselli’s entire Twitter feed devoted to this press release, and also more widely to follow his account.
-
- 2. View of the existing site
- See the image in its page
-
- 3. View of the site after demolition of the Pavillon des Sources and construction of the new building
- See the image in its page
It also shows how this project, in addition to destroying the pavilion, will completely alter the site, since the construction will raise the Pasteur building (ill. 2 and 3), and the view of the Panthéon (ill. 4 and 5) will be seriously altered. Once again, Paris, already one of the most densely populated cities in the world, is being densified.
-
- 4. Current view of the Panthéon
(on the left, the Institut Curie) - See the image in its page
-
- 5. View of the future perspective
on the Panthéon
(on the left, the Institut Curie) - See the image in its page
Paris City Council is therefore fully responsible for its inaction, and this is hardly surprising when you consider its heritage and urban planning policies, which are causing our capital to disappear a little more every day.
But Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak is also complicit in this misdeed. And she is definitely proving that she is right up there with most of her predecessors, who had no interest in heritage.
-
- 6. Roger-Henri Expert’s Art Deco building being demolished (5/12/23)
Photo: forwarded by Baptiste Gianeselli - See the image in its page
Among her recent feats of arms, we might mention in particular: the destruction of Roger-Henri Expert’s Art Deco building (ill. 6), by the same Institut Curie that has just taken place (see also this article) and which she could have saved thanks to a temporary protection procedure (then definitive), the destruction in the safeguarded sector of Bourges, which she has allowed to happen, even though she supported the city’s bid to become European Capital of Culture (even though all its museums are closed), her indifference to the fate of the Visitation monastery in Paris, an issue we should have been talking about and for which the Sites & Monuments association is fighting... Not to mention her complicit silence, or even approval, of the stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame affair.
Rima Abdul Malak claims to be a great feminist, yet she does nothing to save a place of memory that is so important to women’s history. Can anyone imagine such hypocrisy? What is she risking by simply doing her job as minister in charge of heritage?
-
- 7. Preparations for the destruction of the Pavillon des Sources (23/12/23)
Photo: taken from a video
posted by Baptiste Gianeselli - See the image in its page
The latest news from the Pavillon des Sources is very alarmist: work has already begun (ill. 7) to prepare for the destruction that should take place, according to very credible sources Baptiste Gianeselli has informed us, next week. Between Christmas and New Year, they must think it’s more discreet. If the Minister for Culture doesn’t shoulder her responsibilities, she will definitely have joined Anne Hidalgo and Emmanuel Grégoire in the camp of official vandalism.