Hôtel Mezzara : Take the money and run

In our first article on Hector Guimard’s Hotel Mezzara (ill. 1 to 8), written in April 2020, Bénédicte Bonnet Saint-Georges wrote: "It is to be believed that heritage is considered a burden and that all pretexts are good for not spending a penny on it".
The reality is much worse: not only does the French state not want to spend a penny on the conservation of this heritage, but it wants to make as much money as possible. Nothing else would explain why the first call for applications was unsuccessful. He thus demonstrates that he has learned nothing from the lessons of the Hôtel de la Marine or the Château de Grignon, which he wanted to sell to the highest bidders, who were at the same time the lowest bidders in terms of heritage, only to back down in the face of the reactions of heritage defenders. This is, hopefully, what will happen with the Mezzara Hotel [1].

We refer to this article for information on the history and architecture of the monument. At the time of publication, the call for applications had not been launched. It has since been launched and, despite a project submitted by the Cercle Guimard and a sponsor who provided all the required guarantees, was declared unsuccessful without the reasons for this decision being made public or even explained to the candidates. And for good reason: all the conditions were met.
The first was: "guarantees to be given to respect the conservation and safeguarding measures of the movable and immovable property". The project consisted of having the building restored in strict compliance with its character as a historic monument by the ACMH (architecte en chef des monuments historiques), Pierre-Antoine Gatier, and transforming it into a…